Explore Candidates → Christopher Dodd on Civil Liberties and Domestic Security
Christopher Dodd on Civil Liberties and Domestic Security
"I am really angry about this notion that you have to make a choice about being more secure and having to give up rights. I think that is a false choice. In fact, I think we are less secure when you give up rights."
Voted YES to Reauthorize the Patriot Act in 2003.
USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments; Bill S. 2271 ; vote number 2006-025 on Mar 1, 2006
"I firmly believe that liberty and safety are not mutually exclusive. We must be vigilant against infringements upon our civil liberties, even when those infringements are made in the name of national security. I voted in favor of the USA PATRIOT Act because I believed that, on balance, it would enhance our nation's ability to fight terrorism without substantially encroaching upon our citizen's civil liberties. Since enactment in 2001, I have become concerned about particular provisions in the Act. Since passage of the PATRIOT Act, four states and over 375 local governments have passed resolutions expressing their concern about some sections of the Act. Clearly, we must make an effort to address the concerns of our citizens regarding their constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties."
Voted NO on HR 6304 a bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to establish a procedure for authorizing certain acquisitions of foreign intelligence, and for other purposes.
"With the announcement out of the Intelligence Committee that Democrats are joining Republicans in extending retroactive immunity to telephone companies that turned over, I'm told, massive amounts of records, private records, to the Bush Administration without a government, without a court order. And I just find that shocking and reprehensible. This is yet one further beat in the drum beat that's gone on here with this administration, to trample on the constitutional rights of Americans. The right of privacy and the Constitution don't belong to any candidate, or belong to any political party."
"This week we saw the United States Senate try to pass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which would have tried to grant retroactive immunity to the telecom industry for having over a period of five years have listened in to the phone conversations, emails, and faxes of millions and millions of Americans without a court order. I went off the campaign trail and went back to Washington and over the period of 11 hours on Monday was able to convince the leadership of the Senate to pull down that bill."
"I am really angry about this notion that you have to make a choice about being more secure and having to give up rights. I think that is a false choice. In fact, I think we are less secure when you give up rights."
"Voted YES on loosening restrictions on cell phone wiretapping. Motion to table (kill) the amendment that would provide that in order to conduct roving surveillance, the person implementing the order must ascertain that the target of the surveillance is present in the house or is using the phone that has been tapped."
Bill S1510 ; vote number 2001-300 on Oct 11, 2001
Voted YES on preserving habeus corpus for Guantanamo detainees.
Specter Amendment; Bill S.AMDT.5087 to S.3930 ; vote number 2006-255 on Sep 28, 2006
Voted YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods.
Rockefeller Amendment; Bill S.AMDT.5095 to S.3930 ; vote number 2006-256 on Sep 28, 2006
"Habeas is one of the most fundamental rights... it predates the constitution of the United States and goes back to the Magna Carta. It is the basic idea that you can't be held indefinitely without knowing what you've been charged with and have a right to defend yourself - it's a basic principle of law in the rule of law."
Q: Do you think waterboarding is torture? DODD: Absolutely, according to both US law and international conventions. And in my view, the Bush Administration knows full well it is.
"Voted YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods. Amendment to provide for congressional oversight of certain Central Intelligence Agency programs. The underlying bill S. 3930 authorizes trial by military commission for violations of the law of war. The amendment requires quarterly reports describing all CIA detention facilities; the name of each detainee; their suspected activities; & each interrogation technique authorized for use and guidelines on the use of each such technique."
Introduced the, "Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007" - Amends federal provisions concerning the prosecution of unlawful enemy combatants by U.S. military commissions to, among other things: (1) repeal the authority for civilian trial (prosecution) counsel in a commission proceeding, but authorize civilian military defense counsel; (2) exclude statements made by coercion; (3) authorize the Secretary of Defense to make exceptions to commission procedures and rules of evidence as required by unique circumstances of military or intelligence operations during hostilities; (4) provide for self-representation by the accused, while requiring assistance by military defense counsel; (5) authorize the military judge to order trial counsel to disclose to defense counsel the sources, methods, or activities in which witnesses or evidence against the accused was obtained; (6) require commission decision review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces rather than by the Court of Military Commission Review; (7) provide the scope of review of detention-related decisions; (8) repeal a provision of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 prohibiting invoking the Geneva Conventions (Conventions) or similar protocols in any habeas corpus or other action to which the United States is a party; (9) require the President to notify other parties to the Conventions that the United States expects members of U.S. Armed Forces and other U.S. citizens detained in a conflict not of an international character to be treated in a manner consistent with the Conventions; (10) include as War Crime offenses the denial of trial rights and the imposition of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; (11) restore habeas corpus for individuals detained by the United States; and (12) provide for expedited judicial review of civil actions that challenges any provision of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.