By Cliff Montgomery – Jan. 15th, 2009
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) on December 10th sent an impassioned letter to President-elect BarackObama, which prompted the incoming Administration to “restore the rule of law” in the United States.
“In light of [this nations’s] recent history, I believe that one of the most important things that you can do asPresident is to take concrete steps to restore the rule of law in this country,” wrote Feingold.
What the United States needs is a president who will “return to the White House respect for an appropriateseparation and balance of powers among the branches, for the President’s important but not paramount placein our constitutional system of government, for the laws that Congress writes and the importance of itsoversight functions, and for the judiciary’s crucial role in interpreting the law,” stated the senator.
“As I know you recognize, we can protect our national security–in fact, we can do it more effectively–withouttrampling on the rights of Americans or the rule of law,” added Feingold.
Capitol Hill watchers know that Russ Feingold frankly is one of the few liberals in the Senate whose principle isas strong as his conscience. In other words, he’s one of the few who will actually fight for what he believes.
Feingold often has worked across party lines, and is a lawmaker respected for his actions in both foreign anddomestic policy arenas.
A segment from Feingold’s official bio, found on his website, follows matters closely enough:
A leading defender of privacy and personal freedoms, Feingold cast the Senate’s lone vote against the USA PATRIOT Act, and has fought to change the Act to protect the civil liberties of law-abiding Americans. He strongly opposed the President’s decision to go to war in Iraq, and was the first Senator to call for a timetable to redeploy troops out of Iraq. Well known for pushing through campaign finance reform in the Senate with Republican Senator John McCain, Feingold has also been a tireless advocate for restoring fiscal discipline in Congress and reducing the federal deficit.
The Wisconsin senator in September chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled, “Restoring theRule of Law.” Its final recommendations addressed four key topics: separation of powers, domesticsurveillance, excessive government secrecy and detention and interrogation policy.
Among the panel’s recommendations:
- Closing the Guantanamo Bay facility–a move supported by Obama
- Endorsing major changes to both the FISA Amendments Act and to the “Patriot” Act, which will somewhat restore Americans’ natural right of privacy
- Banning all forms of torture, and creating a single federal standard for the humane treatment of detainees
- Recognizing the constitutional mandate of Congressional oversight on the Executive Branch, which should include supplying full data to intelligence panels
- Providing an audit of all legal opinions from the Executive Branch’s Office of Legal Counsel, and revising those that exaggerate executive authority
- Maintaining a presumption of disclosure on classification decisions, and responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Feingold also shows a clear understanding of social media. The senator’s website contains a page providingnumerous first-hand sources on “Restoring the Rule of Law.” These include the text of the December letterwhich Feingold sent to Obama, the full text from September’s Senate panel meeting, and even a few videos ofthe Wisconsin senator discussing the virtues of law over outright tyranny.
