Barrow Admits Vote Supporting Trial Attorneys over U.S. Homeland Security Needs on Savannah Talk Radio

(SAVANNAH, GA) - Incumbent Congressman John Barrow (D-12) has finally admitted on Savannah talk radio station WBMQ that he voted against the bipartisan Senate Homeland Security bill in order to allow trial attorneys to sue U.S. telecom companies who help in the War on Terror.

But in typical Barrow style, the former Athens trial attorney so couched his on-air comments that listeners would have a hard time telling where he stood on the issue.

At issue are Barrow's votes against renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expired in February.  The Senate approved the bill with a broad bipartisan 69-28 vote, but Barrow and fellow House Democrats voted against allowing that bill to come to a vote in the House.  The Senate bill protects U.S. telecom companies from over 40 lawsuits that have been filed against them for having voluntarily helped the United States track terrorists immediately following the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"I prefer to protect the telecoms and the American people at the same time, and wrote a letter to that effect, and have votes that are consistent with that," Barrow told WBMQ host Ray Steele on-the-air Wednesday.  Barrow then told Steele that while he supported telecom protections, he voted for the version of FISA without those protections to avoid delaying approval of the bill.  "If I'm presented with the choice of protecting the American people first and having to wait until later on to protect the telecoms, telecoms will just have to wait."

What Barrow shrewdly failed to tell Steele was that he was not presented with that choice.  He in fact repeatedly had the choice to vote for telecom protections in a straight up-or-down vote - and voted no. The Congressional Record reveals that when the bipartisan Senate bill that Barrow says he supports was brought before the House, he voted to block its consideration.

(Roll No. 48, February 13, 2008 - http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll048.xml)

Later that day, Republicans offered an amendment to restore protections for US telecoms to the Democratic leadership bill  - the bill that Barrow in fact voted for and which stripped out the protections for telecom companies.  Barrow again voted against the telecom protections.   
(Roll No. 53, February 13, 2008 - http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll053.xml)

Barrow's latest attempt to hide his votes on yesterday's Savannah's First News with Ray Steele came after he was caught red-handed in a false statement on the issue in an interview published in the Augusta Chronicle in February, which reported, "Mr. Barrow said the bill actually doesn't cover telecommunications liability and that he will vote for a Senate version of the bill if it reaches the House floor.  'The idea I voted for no immunity is not true,' he said."  However, the Library of Congress reveals the Senate bill submitted to the House - HR 3773 - specifically covered telecom immunity in Title II of the legislation, and Barrow voted to block it from coming to the House floor, after saying he would vote for it IF it came to the House floor.   
(Library of Congress, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.03773)

Barrow has cast six separate votes preventing the same Senate bill he says he supports from being voted on in the House - Roll Call Votes 48, 53, 77, 82, 99, and 145.

"This is really just the latest example of why we need a new representative," Stone says. "Mr. Barrow says he will vote for the Senate protections if they come before the House, then votes to block them from coming before the House, to deceive the voters of our district of his stance on this issue.  Congressman Barrow has pulled this same stunt on issue after issue.  This is a prime example of what's wrong with Washington, and why people from both parties no longer trust their government."

"People need to clearly know where their U.S. Representative stands on the issues with no verbal tricks or gymnastics," Stone says.  "I will vote for the Senate bill with telecom protections on every opportunity that it is presented.  To vote any other way is to jeopardize the homeland security of America, just to pad the pockets of the trial attorneys' lobby." 

"The jury is in on Mr. Barrow's homeland security voting record," Stone says.  "Congressman Barrow and his Democratic leadership are guilty of selling us out to Washington special interests."

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