FISA: Telco PACs Gave $8K to Dems Who Changed Vote
For Immediate Release:
June 24, 2008
House
Dems Who Changed Their Vote To Support Fisa Bill, Giving
Immunity To Telcos, Received, On Average, $8,359 In PAC
Contributions From Verizon, At&T, And Sprint
BERKELEY, CA—Last week, on June 20, the House of Representatives approved a compromise bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). The bill sets new electronic surveillance rules that effectively shield telecommunications companies from lawsuits resulting from the government’s warrantless eavesdropping on phone calls and viewing of emails of private citizens in the U.S. Approximately 40 lawsuits have been filed with potential damages totaling in the billions of dollars.
On March 14 of this year the House passed an amendment that rejected retroactive immunity for phone carriers who helped the National Security Agency carry out the illegal wiretapping program without proper warrants. Ninety-four House Democrats voted in favor of this measure--rejecting immunity--on March 14, then ‘changed’ to vote in favor of the June 20 House bill--approving immunity.
“Why did these ninety-four House members have a change of heart?” asked Daniel Newman, executive director of MAPLight.org, “Their constituents deserve answers.”
MAPLight.org's research department compiled PAC campaign contributions from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint and correlated them with the voting records of all House members who voted on last week’s FISA bill. (The analysis used data from CRP; contributions were from January 2005 through March 2008). Here are the findings:
Comparing Democrats' Votes (March 14th
and June 20th votes):
Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint gave PAC contributions averaging:
$8,359 to each Democrat who
changed their position to support immunity for Telcos (94
Dems)
$4,987 to each Democrat who remained opposed to
immunity for Telcos (116 Dems)
88 percent of the Dems who changed to supporting immunity (83 Dems of the 94) received PAC contributions from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint during the last three years (Jan. 2005-Mar. 2008). See below for list of these 94 Dems.
All House Members (June 20th
vote:)
Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint gave PAC
contributions averaging:
$9,659 to each member of the
House voting "YES" (105-Dem, 188-Rep)
$4,810 to each
member of the House voting "NO" (128-Dem,
1-Rep)
MAPLight.org's research department findings are based on the combination of contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) with voting data from THOMAS via GovTrack.us.
"Campaign contributions bias our legislative system,” said Daniel Newman, Executive Director of MAPLight.org. “Simply put, candidates who take positions contrary to industry interests are unlikely to receive industry funds and thus have fewer resources for their election campaigns than those whose votes favor industry interests."
Democrats who changed their voting to support immunity for Telcos:
PAC
contributions from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint (January 2005 -
March 2008).
Contribution House
Member District
1 29500 Clyburn, James
SC-6
2 29000 Hoyer, Steny MD-5
3 28000 Emanuel, Rahm
IL-5
4 27500 Boucher, Frederick VA-9
5 26000 Meeks,
Gregory NY-6
6 24500 Crowley, Joseph
NY-7
7 24500 Pelosi, Nancy CA-8
8 24000 Bean,
Melissa IL-8
9 22500 Edwards, Thomas
TX-17
10 22100 Baca, Joe CA-43
11 21500 Engel, Eliot
NY-17
12 19000 Bishop, Sanford GA-2
13 18500 Moore,
Dennis KS-3
14 18500 Spratt, John
SC-5
15 18500 Thompson, Bennie
MS-2
16 16000 Melancon, Charles
LA-3
17 15500 Cuellar, Henry TX-28
18 15500 Stupak,
Bart MI-1
19 15000 Ackerman, Gary
NY-5
20 14800 Butterfield, George
NC-1
21 14300 Tanner, John TN-8
22 14000 Kind,
Ronald WI-3
23 13500 Barrow, John
GA-12
24 13500 Gordon, Barton TN-6
25 12500 Costa,
Jim CA-20
26 12500 Ross, Mike AR-4
27 12000 Green,
Al TX-9
28 12000 Hinojosa, Rubén
TX-15
29 11000 Cardoza, Dennis
CA-18
30 11000 Schiff, Adam CA-29
31 10000 Boswell,
Leonard IA-3
32 9000 Boyd, F. FL-2
33 9000 Tauscher,
Ellen CA-10
34 8500 Skelton, Ike
MO-4
35 8000 Ellsworth, Brad IN-8
36 7500 Gutierrez,
Luis IL-4
37 7500 Rahall, Nick WV-3
38 7000 Harman,
Jane CA-36
39 7000 Langevin, James
RI-2
40 7000 Lipinski, Daniel IL-3
41 7000 Reyes,
Silvestre TX-16
42 6500 Matheson, Jim
UT-2
43 6500 Scott, David GA-13
44 6500 Wilson,
Charles OH-6
45 6000 Cleaver, Emanuel
MO-5
46 6000 Etheridge, Bob NC-2
47 6000 Herseth
Sandlin, Stephanie SD-0
48 6000 Salazar, John
CO-3
49 5500 Hastings, Alcee FL-23
50 5500 McCarthy,
Carolyn NY-4
51 5500 McIntyre, Mike
NC-7
52 5000 Davis, Artur AL-7
53 5000 Murtha, John
PA-12
54 5000 Ortiz, Solomon TX-27
55 4500 Brown,
Corrine FL-3
56 4500 Donnelly, Joe
IN-2
57 4000 Berman, Howard CA-28
58 4000 Bishop,
Timothy NY-1
59 4000 Dicks, Norman
WA-6
60 4000 Lowey, Nita NY-18
61 4000 Mahoney, Tim
FL-16
62 3000 Murphy, Patrick PA-8
63 3000 Smith,
Adam WA-9
64 2500 Arcuri, Michael
NY-24
65 2000 Altmire, Jason PA-4
66 2000 Castor,
Kathy FL-11
67 2000 Chandler, Ben
KY-6
68 2000 Giffords, Gabrielle
AZ-8
69 2000 Higgins, Brian NY-27
70 2000 McNerney,
Jerry CA-11
71 2000 Mitchell, Harry
AZ-5
72 2000 Pomeroy, Earl ND-0
73 2000 Sherman,
Brad CA-27
74 2000 Sires, Albio
NJ-13
75 1000 Berkley, Shelley NV-1
76 1000 Boyda,
Nancy KS-2
77 1000 Gillibrand, Kirsten
NY-20
78 1000 Kanjorski, Paul PA-11
79 1000 Kildee,
Dale MI-5
80 1000 Klein, Ron
FL-22
81 1000 Perlmutter, Ed CO-7
82 1000 Rodriguez,
Ciro TX-23
83 1000 Space, Zackary OH-18
84 0 Baird,
Brian WA-3
85 0 Berry, Robert AR-1
86 0 Marshall,
James GA-8
87 0 Peterson, Collin
MN-7
88 0 Richardson, Laura
CA-37
89 0 Ruppersberger, C.A. MD-2
90 0 Sestak, Joe
PA-7
91 0 Snyder, Victor AR-2
92 0 Taylor, Gene
MS-4
93 0 Udall, Mark CO-2
94 0 Yarmuth, John
KY-3
The FISA bill also requires the administration to
submit surveillance procedures to the secret FISA court for
approval before surveillance could begin, except in
emergency circumstances. The bill's provisions expire at the
end of 2012.
The March 16th vote was on the House amendment (to the Senate amendment to H.R. 3773), to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).
Who We Are:
MAPLight.org is a
nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides
unprecedented government transparency, shining a light on
our broken system of money-dominated politics. We track all
campaign contributions given to members of Congress, and how
every member of Congress votes on every bill, revealing
connections between money and politics never before possible
to see. Our concise graphs show correlations between money
and votes, and timelines of contributions and votes, showing
specifics about when legislators received large donations
before and after a vote.
About
MAPLight.org:
MAPLight.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit,
nonpartisan organization based in Berkeley, California. Its
search engine at MAPLight.org illuminates the connection
between Money And Politics (MAP) via an unprecedented
database of campaign contributions and legislative outcomes.
Data sources include: GovTrack.us; Center for Responsive
Politics (OpenSecrets.org); Federal Election Commission
(FEC); and National Institute on Money in State Politics
(NIMSP). Support and opposition data is obtained through
testimony at public hearings, proprietary news databases and
public statements on the websites of trade associations and
other groups. To learn more visit
MAPLight.org.
ENDS