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Whitehouse to take on president on radio |
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Saturday, 16 February 2008 |
PROVIDENCE — U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse will denounce what he calls “President Bush’s political gamesmanship” over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) when he delivers the Democratic response to President George W. Bush’s weekly radio address today.
A former U.S. Attorney and Rhode Island attorney general, and member of the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees, Whitehouse has played a prominent role in the Democrats’ efforts to include protections of Americans’ privacy rights in the new legislation.
But this week, rather than let the House and Senate work together to reach a compromise, the president is threatening to veto any extension of the current law, the Protect America Act.
President Bush “chose political gamesmanship, rejecting a short extension of the Protect America Act that would allow Congress to complete its work,” Whitehouse will say in the brief radio message.
“Make no mistake: if the surveillance law expires, if any intelligence loss results, it is President Bush’s choice. Period.”
According to Whitehouse’s office, the audio of the speech will be made available to radio affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, C-Span, the BBC, and most major television network, but no local outlets are planning to run the speech in its entirety.
After the speech is delivered, a copy will be available on the Web site of the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 February 2008 )
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