"AN OPEN DOOR TO A POLICE STATE IN AMERICA," KUCINICH WARNS ON NEW FISA SECTION 702 THREAT

CLEVELAND, April 16 (Tues.)  Former Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich, who in 2001, led the effort against the passage of the Patriot Act, and who relentlessly worked to repeal its provisions, called the House revisions to the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), "an open door to a police state in America, tech companies will be forced to do the government's bidding, to spy on their customers." 

The House tabled a motion to reconsider the bill last night, so it moves to the U.S. Senate.

"It not only permits the government to spy on US citizens, it establishes a new infrastructure requiring Americans to spy on their fellow countrymen and women," Kucinich said.  "The government is not just revising FISA, it's revising the Constitution and striking the Fourth Amendment and the protections provided Americans from the government." 

Elizabeth Goitein, Co-Director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, yesterday pointed out on X (formerly known as Twitter) that the bill in its present form provides that "any company or individual that provides ANY service whatsoever may be forced to assist in NSA [National Security Agency] surveillance, as long as they have access to equipment on which communications are transmitted or stored --such as routers, servers, cell towers etc.,"sweeping in U.S. businesses that provide wifi to their customers."  

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who is leading opposition to the bill in the Senate this week appraised the House bill as "on of the most dramatic and terrifying expansion of government surveillance authority in history.....It allows the government to force any American who installs, maintains, or repairs anything that transmits or stores communications to spy on the government's behalf." 

Kucinich is running to return to Congress, as an independent.  He has pointed out that had he been in Congress, the Biggs Amendment to Section 702,which was defeated in a tie vote this past Friday, would have passed, requiring the government to obtain a court-approved warrant before spying on any American. 

Kucinich's opponent in the race for Ohio's 7th District, incumbent Max Miller, has cast a total of five votes which advanced the FISA legislation: (1) the NDAA Reauthorization; (2) The $1.2 trillion omnibus spending bill; (3) His vote against the Biggs Amendment; (4) The vote Friday for passage of the reauthorization of Section 702 and (5) His vote yesterday to table the motion to reconsider by Congresswoman Luna.

On Friday, Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona attempted to protect the US Constitution's Fourth Amendment, by amending FISA to expressly prohibit illegal, unconstitutional, warrantless searches of Americans.

Shockingly, the House of Representatives, including my opponent, voted to defeat the Biggs Amendment in a 212-212 tie vote, and then went on to approve a two-year extension of FISA.  

Any member of Congress who voted against the Biggs Amendment could have changed the outcome and cast a vote to protect our Constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment. 

If I had been in Congress, my single vote would have saved the Fourth Amendment. I would have voted for the Biggs Amendment, broken the tie and the Constitution would have won! 

The vote on the Biggs Amendment and the FISA extension were two of the most consequential votes cast in Congress this year.

Years ago, as a Member of Congress representing some of the same constituents, I voted against the Patriot Act because I wanted to protect the people from the exact type of abuses of power by the government which are occurring under Section 702 of FISA,  and because I saw it as an unconstitutional intrusion on the privacy rights of Americans.  

Most unfortunately, Congressman Max Miller of the 7th District of Ohio voted against the Biggs Amendment, thereby permitting the government to continue to spy on Americans, without a warrant.  He then went on to vote for the two-year FISA extension.  Mr. Miller has yet to explain his vote. 

Elect me to Congress OH-7 and I’ll always protect America’s freedoms and civil liberties.

With your support in November,  I'm looking forward to returning to Congress to continue the fight to fully restore all of our Constitutional rights.  The abuse of FISA is not the only Constitutional issue at stake.  

Please do everything you can to support my campaign for election to OH-7. My vote in Congress will make all the difference. Help spread the word. America needs us! 

Yours faithfully! 

Dennis Kucinich
Candidate for U.S. House, District 7
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
(1997 – 2013) 

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, stands to protect Americans from government abuse of power.

Although Members of Congress, the Administration and the Supreme Court take an oath to uphold the Constitution, U.S. government agency officials in the FBI, CIA and NSA, acting under the color of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance  (FISA) Act, routinely search and retain information on Americans' phone calls, emails and texts, without a required warrant. 

Warrantless electronic surveillance, by law, is supposed to be limited to foreigners.  However, despite agency promises of reform, the government flagrantly abuses the Fourth Amendment and does, in fact, use Section 702 of FISA to spy on Americans, without obtaining a court-ordered warrant.  

“COULD HAVE SHUT BORDER, CUT DEBT, LIMITED WARS”

PARMA (Sat.) March 23 - - Dennis J. Kucinich, independent candidate for Congress in Ohio’s 7th Congressional District issued the following statement following Rep. Max Miller’s YES vote yesterday on the $1.2 trillion spending bill. Kucinich said, “This legislation was designed so the American people would not know what was in the bill.  I doubt that Rep. Miller even read the bill.” 

“Mr. Miller was ensnared in the oldest inside-the-beltway trap: ‘Vote for this or else the government shuts down.’  That false choice was promoted by the politically cunning and accepted by the politically naïve.  This is what the swamp does to the weak to get them to vote against the interests of the American people.  If Congress wanted to address even a few of the economic and security concerns of the people, this was the time to do it.  Instead we get six months of more uniparty status quo.

“Rep. Miller could have used his vote as leverage to shut down the border, to cut the debt and to limit spending for more wars.  Instead, he forgot the concerns of the people of the 7th District, failed to close the border, added to the debt and provided more money for which will be used for more war,” Kucinich said.    

“Additionally, he issued a video  in which Rep. Miller said:  “If you shut down the government you don’t shut down the border." 

"So, a shutdown would open the border?  Perhaps Rep. Miller is unaware, but last year, more than 2.4 million people migrated to the southern border.  As Rep. Chip Roy said in debate on the bill, '…when you fund the lawlessness, you fund the open border….' " 

"Rep. Miller gave away his vote at a time when he could have stood up for the concerns of the people of the 7th District, concerns about the border, debt and war which are shared by all Americans.  His weak explanation of his vote for $1.2 trillion in spending is a clear demonstration that he lacked the strength to take a stand, that he has no ability to negotiate on behalf of the people of the 7th District, and, as a result, hard-working Americans end up footing the bill. 

"The 7th District needs an experienced statesman.  I’m running to return to Congress as an independent, to leverage my vote to empower the people, to put Country above party, to protect America and to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse," Kucinich concluded.

If elected, Kucinich could become the only independent in a closely divided House where today a one-vote margin separates the two parties.

CLEVELAND (March 19) Weds. - - Dennis J. Kucinich, who served the greater Cleveland area for 16 years in the United States House of Representatives, filed petitions yesterday afternoon at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, to gain a place on the November ballot in the 7^th Congressional District, which includes Cleveland-area suburbs in Cuyahoga County, all of Medina and Wayne County and northern Holmes County.  Kucinich is running as an independent, without a party label.  If elected he may well become the only independent elected to a closely divided, hyper-partisan Congress.   Kucinich’s statement upon filing follows:

              Statement of Dennis J. Kucinich upon Filing for Congress as an Independent

In this moment of sharp partisan divisions in our country, which endanger America domestically and abroad, I recognize the urgency of uniting America, of placing country above party, of pledging allegiance to America and to no other nation, to upholding our Constitution to protect our freedoms.  I invite you, no matter your political persuasion to join this campaign.

Therefore I am thrilled to announce I have filed petitions to officially become a candidate for Congress in the 7^th District of Ohio.  I want to thank the more than 6,000 voters, Democrats, Republicans and independents alike, people from across the political and religious spectrum, who signed to get me on the ballot, as well as those who circulated petitions through freezing weather, through snow, through rain, and through flu season to make this moment possible.

I have found in speaking with the people of the 7^th Congressional District that we are in alignment with each other.  The people have made it clear they are seeking a representative who places country above party, whose allegiance is to America and no other nation.

In this campaign, I will focus, as I always have, on the economic needs of  Americans, and the challenges so many families face today: Inflation driving up the cost of food, housing, health care, energy, utilities, and education, while the cost of credit rises and more and more Americans are going into debt.

Our first job as a nation must be to protect our economic freedom here at home and not spend the treasure of our nation abroad in search of dragons to slay, not risking our future with an unsustainable national debt, where we put unnecessary wars and Wall Street bailouts on the national credit card.

This election is about supporting the economic interests of the job creators, of Ohio businesses small and large, farmers, and all who struggling to make it in this economy to hold onto everything they have worked for in a lifetime. It is about standing resolutely for the rights of workers to organize, for collective bargaining, the right to decent wages and benefits so workers can support their families.

This election is about rebuilding our strategic industrial base, our steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping industries. It is about investing in America and not sending money abroad for wars and for foreign military aid.

This election is about freedom.  The voters I have spoken to are deeply concerned that we are losing our constitutional rights to free speech, to privacy, to unreasonable search and seizure, to a federal government which has, under both political parties, placed corporate interests about the U.S. Constitution and our sacred rights.   At this very moment, in current negotiations, our government is poised to give away our Constitutional freedoms and U.S. sovereignty to the World Health Organization, just as it did to the WTO where critical decisions are made in foreign capitals affecting United States’ businesses, our jobs, our health and safety standards, without a vote of the people, or their elected representatives.

Guided by the U.S. Constitution, my leadership has always been rational, aspirational and practical.  

Today I begin again to create a basis for a re-United States, transcending labels and partisan politics  to play a unique role in the next Congress to help both Democratic and  Republican colleagues  to work together for the best interests of the American people, to help our nation to be able to communicate with itself at home and with other nations through diplomacy, the science of human relations, where we see each other as potential friends and allies, not as intractable enemies.

I will bring to Congress the enthusiasm and the energy of youth together with the wisdom of experience.  For years I have been told that I am ahead of my time.  Today I am on time.  As a member of Congress, I will work to create policies through building coalitions across the political spectrum, to uphold the Constitution, protect and defend our rights and freedoms, to create policies which enable prosperity for all Americans, not just a few, to ensure that we have secure borders and a sane immigration policy; that we stand for responsible fiscal stewardship, reduce government waste, fraud and abuse, and help America, once again, to be a leader for peace and humanity in the world, rather than a nation that chooses to prosecute war everywhere. 

I have been tested in a way that few in public office have been tested.  Years ago, as Mayor of Cleveland, I took over a deficit-ridden city and ran it on a cash basis, while cutting spending by at least 12% without reducing basic services.  I took on a corrupt utility monopoly, their banking partners and supporters in the media and even risked assassination to stand up for the right of the people of Cleveland to have an electric system they could call their own.

Although I attempted to pay off the debts I had inherited, the banks refused to take the money and instead demanded the sale of the city’s electric system as a condition of credit.  I refused the blackmail. The banks put the city into default.  I was smeared for challenging a corrupt establishment, and I learned never to be afraid because truth, though crushed to the ground, will rise again. 

Cleveland’s municipal electric system endures to this very day.  My leadership has been acknowledged to have saved the people of Cleveland hundreds of millions of dollars on their utility bills and saved taxpayers countless millions.  That is what public service is all about.

Throughout my career, I have not hesitated to stand up for the people.  I am a builder of bridges, a warrior for peace, a fighter for the people, unbossed and unbought. 

At this critical time in our nation’s history, I urge everyone, to look beyond the chaos of the moment, the partisan divisions, and to look to a brighter future for our country where there are not winners and losers, where we, once again, find the source of our unity, where we are truly free and independent as a nation. 

We must retain our faith in the highest principles of the United States, in liberty and justice and in our Constitution, and work to once again put them into action.    This starts with electing a representative who will stand courageously for truth, justice and the Constitution.  Let’s win this for the 7^th District, for Ohio and for America.  Please sign up at Kucinich.com to take back our country.

Thank you.   --   Dennis J. Kucinich.