Dallas, PA – In the mold of a typical Washington politician, back in January, Congressman Chris Carney wrote a meaningless letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in support of the Senate version of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA), a key homeland security law that gives authority to intelligence agencies to wiretap terrorists’ communications.  In the letter, Carney said the Senate FISA bill would “thwart terrorism across the globe and save American lives here in our country.”

That letter gave politician Carney the opportunity to posture as being tough on terrorists.  But when he has the chance to put those words into action, Carney continues to hide in the weeds.  House supporters of the stronger Senate FISA bill have put forward a “discharge petition” to force a House vote, and the leaders of this effort have urged Carney to keep his word by signing the petition.  Carney has declined.

Now, Newsweek reports that extreme liberal groups such as MoveOn.Org and Blue America PAC are succeeding in pressuring Carney to change his position, noting “a staffer in the office of one of the top House Democrats ask[ed] us to hold off a little because he felt Carney might come around on the issue.” (http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/theruckus/archive/2008/05/20/crooks-and-liars-if-a-blue-dog-won-t-fight-for-our-freedom-we-will.aspx)

“This should be pretty simple: Chris Carney said he supported the Senate FISA bill; he needs to keep his word.  Instead, Carney is caving in to extreme liberal pressure groups, sacrificing national security for his own political gain -- it’s absolutely outrageous,” said Hackett campaign spokesman Mark Harris.

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