Hillary votes with Repugs, and Obama sits this one out but says he would have voted NO [View All]

[jillan]

Warning: This is a controversial topic

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21688
(Yes - it is a repug website and that is why they are so happy that it didn't pass - infact that are calling the ACLU Islamic Activists)

Saving the 'John Doe' Amendment
by Ericka Andersen

Posted: 07/26/2007

Should citizens -- acting in good faith to report suspicious activity -- be subjected to lawsuits by Islamic activists? Democrats think so. Last week, they attempted to strip away the “John Doe” provision from the new Homeland Security Department legislation. For now, they have failed.

All but one Republican, presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who abstained from the vote, united against removing the provision. Voters who wanted to omit the amendment included a crowd of Democrats including presidential candidate Sens. Joe Biden (D-Del.), Jim Webb (D-Va..) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), among others. Those who abstained, including Brownback and presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), effectively sided with those who voted against it. Democratic presidential candidate and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton voted to keep the provision. Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Rep. Benny Thompson’s (D-Miss.) spokeswoman said he was concerned that the amendment could lead to racial profiling, according to a news report. But Thompson played a key role in working out the specific language of the final bill.

The Democrats who voted to strip the provision teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union, which in November wrote a letter to Leiberman claiming that religious persecution had occurred and the clerics were “deemed a threat to security merely because they had, in accordance with their faith, conducted their evening prayers in Arabic.” The ACLU said that after 9/11, “flying while Muslim” made some passengers unfair targets. However, the imams’ behavior in the November incident provoked a real concern for air travel safety. Suspicion is a simple, preventative measure that puts citizens in control and helps security officials. If you see something, say something.
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This is a tough subject.