John Doe wins!
I mentioned this in an earlier post this morning, but am breaking it out because it deserves a stand-alone. The John Doe amendment is officially alive, well, and incorporated into the homeland security conference report. The Democrats who opposed it will be remembered:
After nearly a week of intense, behind-the-scenes wrangling, congressional negotiators late Tuesday agreed to include in the pending Sept. 11 security bill sweeping liability protections for citizens who report suspicious activity they fear might be linked to terrorism.
Just a reminder–here’s that Senate roll call vote on Susan Collins’ John Doe amendment from last week:
***
Reaction:
A joint statement on the inclusion of the John Doe Protections language for terrorism tipsters by House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security Peter King, R-N.Y., follows.
“This is a huge win — a hard-fought victory for House Republicans and, more importantly, for the American people,” King said.
“In a post-9/11 reality, vigilance is essential to security. Despite the Democratic opposition to this important homeland security measure, I’m thrilled to announce that common sense has prevailed and heroic Americans who report suspicious activity will be protected from frivolous lawsuits. The American people were heard and our country is safer because of it.”
Added Boehner: “I’m pleased that Democratic leaders finally decided to do the right thing and agreed with Republicans that we should be encouraging Americans to report potential terrorist activity to the proper authorities.”
“This much-needed measure is critical in the effort to confront the significant threats posed by Al Qaeda and other terrorists and protect the American people. I want to thank Reps. King and [New Mexico Republican Steve] Pearce for their leadership on this issue and their efforts to make America safer.”
Pearce’s office sends this:
Today, Congressman Steve Pearce strongly praised the inclusion of “John Doe” protections in the Homeland Security bill. Despite overwhelming bipartisan support, the new majority leadership in the House attempted last week to remove the provision, originally drafted by Rep. Pearce, which would give immunity to vigilant citizens that report suspicious activity to security officials.
“I am pleased to see that the pressure we created lead Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid to make the right decision about protecting alert Americans,” said Pearce. “The American people shouldn’t have to think twice about alerting security and law enforcement to potential terrorist attacks.”
“Vigilant citizens can often be the most useful weapon in the War on Terror,” he added. “It was unnerving to watch the majority leadership ignore this fact and push to protect potential terrorists rather than innocent Americans.”
Said Pearce: “We should be encouraging anyone who sees something to say something. Today, Congress has rightly decided to move forward with this common sense provision.”
You can watch the video of Pearce offering the original John Doe amendment here.
Frank Gaffney and the Center for Security Policy:
The Center for Security Policy is gratified that its efforts, those of innumerable bloggers, radio talk show hosts and other public-minded citizens translated into an important legislative victory late last night. Thanks to the leadership of Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, the chairman and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and especially that of Rep. Pete King, Sen. Collins’ counterpart on the House Homeland Security Committee, legislation along the lines of that adopted by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives last May at Rep. King’s initiative will shortly become law.
The language will provide protection against the sorts of harassment lawsuits filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) after several unidentified individuals reported six Muslim imams engaged in suspicious – and frightening – behavior prior to boarding a USAir flight in November 2006. CAIR has been identified as a front organization for the Muslim Brotherhood and is an un-indicted co-conspirator in an alleged terrorism-financing plot.
Center President Frank Gaffney said on learning of this extraordinary development:
“Thanks to courageous, principled and tenacious efforts by key legislators like Rep. King and Sens. Lieberman and Collins, the American people are going to be free to do their part in the War for the Free World – serving as indispensable eyes and ears for those trying to protect us against terrorism – without fear that the likes of CAIR will be suing them for doing so.”
“We are extremely grateful to these lawmakers and also to members of the Democratic leadership who opposed such efforts, but eventually relented in the face of an outpouring of public demands that the King amendment be enacted into law. We are even more appreciative of the efforts made by all those who helped alert the public to the need to engage so directly and, ultimately, so decisively.”
Now, stay vigilant.
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- Are the Democrats for America? - Page 2 - TurboBuick.Com
- One Jerusalem Blog
- John Doe lives! Remember those that saved it AND those that tried to kill it. « Volunteer Opinion Journal
- The Amboy Times
- Wake up America-7 signs-watch for terror activity
- Pirate’s Cove » >>Americans Never Quit » John Doe Protection Looks To Be Going Through
- John Doe Defibrillated–Dems Stunned « TMQ2
- Solomonia
- Bill's Bites
- John Doe wins, everybody else loses! « Cowardly political musings…
- shyspeak.net » Blog Archive » John Doe Resurrected!
- NoisyRoom.net » Blog Archive » Noisy News Around the Web - 07/25/2007…
- John Doe Amendment Will Survive! « Welcome to GayConservative.org
- Allahpundit is High on Hubris, Low on Esprit de Corps « TMQ2
- ‘JOHN DOE’ ALIVE AND WELL « Texas Hold ‘Em Blogger
- JABbering Stooge :: Is this still America? :: July :: 2007
- Overlawyered
- Our Country Our Borders! : Ironic Surrealism II
- John Doe Won! « Political Napalm
- MSM ‘Wisdom’ Embraces Bigotry And Authoritarianism - Again « Suzie-Q
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Amen – thanks for your rallying efforts, Michelle.
Indeed. We need to keep reminding the public up through the next election cycle of every single time they tried to block provisions to keep this country safe. The Dems do NOT take security seriously. Let’s just hug our enemies and try to understand them! Ugh.
Fantastic news! Now if we can get the Dems and the MSM to stop calling a common sense approch to picking out reasonable suspects “racial profiling” we can even do better.
Peter King has been one of the unsung heroes in American politics for some time; he talks the right talk, and then walks the walk – a rare, decided do-er in a culture full of talk-fests.
Three cheers to John Doe and toast to Peter King – may they both live a long, long time.
Thank God people like Michelle are watching the watchers. That including this provision was even in debate should tell you all you need to know about the Democrats.
oh they will still call us bigots. But at least they won’t be able to sue us for reporting suspicious activity.
A huge step. I surprise it made it past the trial lawyers of america… aka Congress. But I’m glad it did.
This is great new’s! but I will never understand why this ‘no brainer’ decision had to be fought so hard by us. The dem’s are going down in flames over several issues so far.
I wonder if profiling by dress is OK in today’s progressive world. By the way, how many who post here are aware that the memorial to FLT 93 is in the shape of a crescent pointed directly toward Mecca. Just reported on WND.
The Republicans are doing a better job of getting legislation now than they did when they had the majority. Must be a lesson in there somewhere.
I tell ya, Hillary is no fool. One of a couple Dems who voted for it.
Thank GOD.
And thx to bloggers like Michelle Malkin and Hotair who put this in front of the American people who then phoned in support.
Wow, its disgusting that there is anyone opposed to this!
The sense of the citizenry is becoming the sense of the congress.
Note: Obama didn’t vote. Hillary v Obama is heating up.
Raging, No kidding!
I’m embarassed seeing my Senators name on the nay list (Boxer) and the other(Feinstein) was a coward by not voting or being absent if that’s the case.
I’ll cheer when I find out what had to be horsetraded to get this in there and/or what had to be removed from the amendment itself.
Once again the people brought enough pressure to bear on the Congress to do the right thing on an issue that should have been obvious to anyone in this country.
I think we should christen 2007 as the “Year of the People” …
Don’t let anyone ever forget the names of those that played politics with our security …
I just wrote my Senator, Tom Harkin, and tore him a new one for voting against John Doe. I suggest you do the same for your Senator(s) if they voted against as well. Even though it has been saved, you still need to let them know how you feel!!!
Thank you Michelle for always being right on top of everything that’s important, and keeping us inspired and motivated to do what’s right. You truly are a great American.
Obama better start participating and showing his TRUE colors.
He will have to answer to Hillary if he doesn’t….poor voting record is what she will use against him.
Well said, DesertLover and CC!!!!
Wow, this is wonderful!
LuxEternam
IMHO we should also send letters of thanks commending those senators that voted for the “John Doe” amendment to reinforce to them that we are watching and appreciative when they do the right thing
It’s a absolutely infuriating we have to pass legislation to use our common sense… to be”vigilant”. No doubt the terrorists think we are the biggest bunch of morons in the world. If we don’t take the gloves off soon we’ll never win this war.
#23 – right on the money. LOL – don’t they?!
Thanks to MM for keeping this going.
Thanks for all you do, Michelle.
Great news! Keep pressure on them.
Given some recent polls showing rising support for the Iraq War, and now this John Doe amendment, I sense a slow tide a turnin’. I, too, am waiting to see what was traded away to get this in, but the Dems must be hearing from people they aren’t accustomed to hearing from on this issue.
In days gone by, such lawsuits would have been done away with by no-nonsense judges. Since we can no longer count on that, we must legislate even the most common sense issues. Well, okay, if they want to legislate it, we’ll legislate it.
So let’s make sure everyone understands what this was all about: If you overtly act like a terrorist while boarding or after boarding an airplane, the passengers are free to report you to the authorities as a potential terrorist and DEMAND that you be questioned, detained, or ejected without fear of legal reprisals by your representatives who have learned to game our legal system.
Republicans were for this; Democrats against. Any questions?
Yup, real complicated stuff, this one was.
Obama’s stratagy seems to be “don’t vote for anything, that way it can’t be used against you in an election”.
When he ends up running for the Senate again, I’m going to make sure his slew of no-votes gets shown…
Another step on the way to 1984. Kids! Report your parents! Got a grudge against your neighbor? Report him with no fear of reprisal!
My freedom is worth more than your safety.
Of course, my senator has to vote Nay—Dingy Harry. Nice to know all those phone calls to Big P made a Difference . Thanks for the contact info MM.
On my flight back to Detroit from Houston, an Arab guy, before opening the door to the restroom, took a long look back at the passengers, appearing as if he was making a headcount. Nobody in the cabin expressed any concern. However, after what seemed to be 15 minutes, this act of intimidation from the restroom came to an end, and one could sense the relief throughout the cabin. This guy was laughing w/satisfaction that he had scared half the passengers on the plane. Maybe John Doe will curtail this kind of behavior from those who hate us.
I’m keeping a close eye on what Sens. Kohl and Feingold are voting.
Sen. Kohl’s office finally released a statement on his website (the first in TWO YEARS) which reads, in part:
Sen. Feingold is less likely to vote for it. You would not believe the specious and downright ignorant reasons he gives for not protecting you, me, and our fellow citizens from potentially crippling lawsuits.
His basic argument is he can’t allow John Doe because we’d report people who “pray” and “dress funny”.
Full audio of his argument is here:
http://www.620wtmj.com/podcasts/charliesykes/8662317.html?video=pop&t=a
This is another piece of evidence, along with the backroom attempt to force Shamnesty upon us, that there are too many two-legged cockroaches in Congress (heavily over-represented in the ranks of the donkey party, but not without some squish Republicans).
Cockroaches do their work in the dark. Shine a light on them, and they scatter. The parallels here are in equal measure accurate and disturbing.
Keep up the excellent work, Michelle; you’re the embodiment of the truism, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
Sometimes Congress makes me think of the Inter-galactic Customs area in the movie “Men in Black” … LOL
The Democrats who tried to block this are anti-American. Citizens not only have a right to report illegal, suspicious activity to the authorities, but have a responsibility to do so. That last word is probably foreign to Social-Democrats.
Hurray for our side! We have to keep the pressure on. I wonder what part of their brains the ones who voted against this are using. Of course, both my Demwit senators voted against the King amendment. Have to see how they voted on Collins.
Michelle,
Thanks again for keeping us in the loop so we can take the necessary action to remind our Congress Critters who they work for. I am proud both of my Senators had the common sense to support this issue.
Orwellian times are upon us, like it or not, but it seems to be a necessary tool of deterrence against the Islamic Haters. Without cameras would British law enforcement be able to capture the punks who’ve been plotting to bomb London? In all wars, society loses some freedoms, some groups more than others. Today is no exception. But few really can comprehend that we’re in “full war” w/Islamic Fanaticism. It has no defined front, but the battles are being fought at 14 hot spots of the world. I’d rather sacrifice some freedoms than to one day endure a 10-year nuclear winter-at best.
Does this include reporting suspious behavior by elected and appointed officials? We have a problem down in Texas, it is called Johnny Sutton.
LOL, Laree!
I simply cannot comprehend what those 39 senators could have been thinking.
Is it just me or is Obama skipping out on more and more voting issues as we approach the elections? Maybe he’s trying to win the Swiss vote…
@Laree: I agree! Every time I see Sutton on television I get angrier and angrier. Makes me mad he’s from Texas.
To Al in St.Lou: those people DON’T think.
The 39 critters that voted against the bill are fairly easy to target. I just sent e-mails to people I know in most of those states asking them to call, write, fax, or e-mail and ask those fine statesmen why they are against citizens exercizing their free speech without the fear of being sued?
The excuse it will encourage racial profiling is nonsense, as any person doing so for nefarious reasons would be nailed on the spot. In an airport it would go through dozens of people before DHS or the FBI would get involved.
I think the Dems are finally getting the message that people are fed up. Go to the following link in a SW Missouri Newspaper (a very liberal publication) and see what was written today about John Doe and other security issues. The title is : Evil Surfacing Among Democratic Party http://www.springfieldnews-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070725/OPINIONS02/707250318/1091
Al,
“I simply cannot comprehend what those 39 senators could have been thinking.”
Well, they weren’t thinking and they usually don’t, as you and I understand the use of the word. I’m serious; the left wing culture – and that’s what it is – has become steeped in perception and the conventional wisdom of their own kind over simple fact. To them, no fact is simple – it’s interpreted – usually to fit into a preconcieved wirld view – and when that’s the mechanism of extrapolation and you add to it the selfish “if it feels good, me me me” aspect of the baby boomer generation, you really do get a group of people functioning quite well on a day to day basis while maintaining one foot in a fantasy land. (How else, for example, could Bill Clinton have put aside responsibility and loyality in favor if hedonistic pursuit with Monica Lewinski and thought that as the world’s most watched man he could get away with it?)
Remember, these people quote not philosophers but often rock stars for their wisdom, which might be okay if the need to rhyme didn;t take precidence over the need to maintain absolute clarity of thought in analysis, and in that mechanism alone water down the thinking. These are people who seem to genuinely believe that you can negotiate a compromise that the west would find acceptable with people so barbaric that they revel in beheading screaming men like slaughtered animals while the cameras roll. The list of intellectual absurdities embraced as intelligent reason by the left is a mile long. It makes perfect sense to them that the “feelings” of a few inconvenienced people checked out a little more rigorously than the rest because they have a visual similarity in their ethnicity to the people who are trying to kill us is of more immediate concern than making sure that terrorists don’t turn our streets into rivers of blood.
And you know what? they don’t want to know the truth. If they did they would be afraid of no news venue and wouldn’t mind a little no-nonsense debate. Conservatives thrive on it and maybe that explains it all, because people become conservatives because they see things clearly, they don’t see things clearly just because they’re conservatives. That being the case, Dems almost by necessity cannot think as clearly as conservatives because if they did, well, at the very least both parties would be pretty much in agreement. (this is hugely right-wing-centric, I know, but I’ll stick with it until someone can offer a more compelling view of the situation).
Really, the liberal Dems as we know them today were borne into media fantasies, worship the icons of same and so naturally, like all people unhappy with reality which is invariably less fun and more stressful than fantasy, they get upset by facts. That might also explain why they just hate conservatives so much. We’re just spouting those awful, unhappiness-generating facts every second of the day.
(but then, I also think that the terms liberal and conservative need desperately to be redefined in light of the world as it is today – but that’s a very different topic)
So yes, I can see completely how the Dems could vote against it. It’s plain as day. Their thinking doesn’t make the slightest bit of real-world sense, of course, but behaving accordingly is exactly what you would expect from fuzzy-thinkers, and vise versa. It’s also why those people are very dangerous to have in powerful public office in a relentlessly free country where fuzzy thinking can lead to genuinely destructive chaos in a milisecond if they only but get enough power.
@Laree – I’m with you on Sutton. His support by Bush left me speechless (& that’s hard to do!). In order for this whole situation not to appear as a conspiracy to send a message to the border patrol, Bush should have kept his distance. Talk is cheap about border and national security when you’ll retire with secret service, state of the art monitoring devices, state of the art alarm systems – plus, I’m sure, the local police will be able to hire an additional dozen officers just to protect the former POTUS. We should ask if his daughters will keep their security after he leaves office as did Shrillery’s kid. I would like to see a maximum of 5 years for security on a former president after leaving office. I see no earthly reason to provide it longer.
Pretty much all of us, Michelle was on that story months ago.
Yeah, it’s pretty outrageous.
Since the subject came up I don’t like the “WTC Memorial” proposal at all … as I see it … they knocked down 2 towers … we should build 3 or more to replace them … they were a symbol to their radical followers … that symbol needs to be resurrected … and shoved back in their faces …
How would all those that died on those planes and in those towers feel about what to most of us has the appearance of an Islamic symbol as a memorial? Or a park and a reflecting pool instead of rebuilding the towers? …
Unfortunately we didn’t have a perceived need for John Doe Laws before 9/11 … but now that we have a need and have a law perhaps it can help us prevent anything like that from happening again …
Sorry, go read the language…
They can still sue because the language states that it has to be a “reasonable” fear, and the list you can report to is not complete…
This will still end up in court because of the language..
Trial lawyers and Islamists 1… America 0
On July 25th, 2007 at 12:56 pm, DesertLover said: #33:
“Sometimes Congress makes me think of the Inter-galactic Customs area in the movie “Men in Black” … LOL”
ROFL….
Yup…and everytime the onslaught of emails, faxes and phone calls comes in from people like us about things like Shamnesty and John Doe…it’s like that little floating ball that went whipping around the room and all the occupants ducked for cover!
jrlingreenbay
B I N G O ! ! !
LOL!
I’d like to see one of those go through the Senate…..
Can’t you just see it now…. careening off of chairs, walls and podiums, everyone ducking for cover….and in the midst of it all, stands Sen. Byrd, yelling, “Barbaric! Barbaric! Barbaric!”
Wow…WAAAYYY off topic…must be close to quittin’ time….
Having just read the actual language of the bill, I’m outraged. If passed, it does absolutely nothing, nada, to protect any citizen. The only thing it will do is nickle and dime (financially ruin) anyone that attempts to bring a situation to the attention of the authorities. Once again, we’ve been had folks and they didn’t even buy us a drink first.
Mr. Conservative Cat,
But Webb, Tester, and McCaskill are not lefties. They’re the blue-dog Dems. Maybe they just didn’t want the winning side to have a larger margin. But that would mean they were making a purely political calculation, which is something I wasn’t thinking about when I made my earlier comment.
Thank you Michelle.
This is so important. The MSM is transfixed on L. Loha_ right now to even mention John Doe. I do not even think Bill O’ mentioned it last night but Loha_ got time.
GOD Bless you!
Once again, yet another issue – can you imagine them having this kind of gall during WW2???
Sorry folks, those who voted against this measure ARE NOT LEGITIMATELY AMERICANS AT ALL!
Meanwhile, the Red Crescent Islamic Tribute passing itself off as the Flight 93 Memorial is proceeding at full speed ahead – seems to be that John Doe isn’t allowed to tell the public at large what is happening to the $$$Millions in tax dollars allocated for THAT memorial site – and each succeeding round of news finds the appropriate govt bureaucracies increasingly harder to communicate with, regarding that memorial site and the methodology used to arrive at relevant decisions appertaining to that Red Crescent design.
Yet again, another round of our government at work for us, shouting loud and clear, “Stouphe EAUX, American taxpaying citizens!”
I am DEAD set against this Michelle. We should give thanks to the government for this nonsense.
I’m afraid I have to agree with Romeo13 in #50. The language of the law is such that it does not provide real protection. A John Doe can still be taken to court, and even if his actions pass the reasonable man test, he can go bankrupt, waste years of his life in litigation, and be turned into a nervous wreck.
Who wants to go through that?
He may win the lawsuit and still loose the larger war. People will still be intimidated by the prospect of defending themselves against suits that are intended to harass and itimidate.
I think we can claim a victory in that Congress was forced to revisit the issue, but the legislation seems to be pretty weak – at least to me.
But maybe that was the best they could do.
Along the same lines as this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070726/ap_on_re_us/immigration_sheriff_2
The illegal immigrant crowd joining in to intimidate vigilant citizens.
Notice how no one is taking Chris Dodd to task for not voting. I think it may be time to drop out Mr. White Hair.