Russ Feingold: “I strongly support Senator Leahy in his effort to replace the Senate Intelligence Committee bill with the version passed…”

“I strongly support Senator Leahy in his effort to replace the Senate Intelligence Committee bill with the version passed by the Judiciary Committee. I am a member of both of these committees. As a member of both committees, I have been deeply involved in the process of having looked at those two products. Having been involved in helping shape them, I urge my colleagues to support the Judiciary Committee version of this legislation. Indeed, I had hoped very much that the Senate would take up that bill to begin with rather than the flawed Intelligence Committee bill. In December, I along with 13 other Senators, urged the majority leader to make the Judiciary Committee bill the base bill on the Senate floor. Unfortunately, our request was denied. So it is very disappointing that we are now forced to fight an uphill battle of offering the Judiciary bill as an amendment. One obvious reason is the Judiciary Committee bill, unlike the Intelligence Committee bill, does not contain unjustified retroactive immunity for companies alleged to have participated in an illegal wiretapping program.”