The 20th Congressional district is a Republican/Conservative Republican district. It seems that Mrs. Gillibrand has found out that voting with the liberal Democrat leadership in the House means voting against her constituents – constituents that do not support the policies of the Democratic majority.
Last night I received a call from Maury Thompson at the Glens Falls Post Star asking me to comment on this story:
Gillibrand wants discussion on Protect America Act
By MAURY THOMPSON
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 5:41 PM EST
U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-Greenport, has repeatedly urged House leadership to put forward legislation “as soon as possible” replacing temporary legislation that authorized security gatherers to tap into foreign telephone conversations in which the signal passes through the United States, Rachel McEneny, a spokeswoman for the congresswoman, said Tuesday.
The so-called Protect America Act expired recently.
Gillbrand will vote against taking an Easter recess if a replacement bill is not put forward by that time, McEneny said.
Here’s what I sent to Maury:
It is clear to me – and I expect to the many residents of the 20th Congressional district who take our national security seriously – that Mrs. Gillibrand is trying to have it both ways with FISA. She knows the House will recess for the Easter holiday despite her transparent posturing. Her attempt to gain advantage on this issue by calling for a discussion through the media needs to be seen for what it really is. Her voting record leads me to seriously doubt she would have bothered weighing in on this issue if it weren’t for the advertising running in the district that calls attention to the issue.
Unlike Mrs. Gillibrand, I have real world experience with the consequences of poor intelligence and its impact on both troops in combat and national security. I’ve lost good men and colleagues to the political games played by the likes of Mrs. Gillibrand and her party leaders she seems so eager to please. The trivialization of national security and the lives of American citizens is a perfect example of why I am running to replace her in Congress.
From the moment I decided to enter public life as a candidate for this seat, I’ve been consistent and clear in my support for modernizing FISA and – more specifically – for giving the men and women putting their lives at risk in defense of our freedom the timely intelligence they need to not only complete their mission but come home safely. Mrs. Gillibrand and her party continue to be more concerned with providing the trial lawyers they receive so many political donations from with new targets for lawsuits. This is national security versus favor for political supporters. Her position and voting record on this issue are disgraceful.
I look forward to debating the issues with Mrs. Gillibrand so I can ask her what she hopes the Democrats in the House might achieve if they were to put forth new legislation to replace FISA. Unfortunately, her vote against the bipartisan Protect America Act makes it pretty obvious to me that her intention would be to further weaken our intelligence gathering capability, putting not only the lives of servicemen and women serving on the frontlines, but also the lives of the men and women living right here in upstate New York, at risk.
Mrs. Gillibrand is not credible on national security. Playing politics with our national security and American lives is simply despicable and just the latest example of why she needs to be removed from Congress before she can do any more damage to our national security.
