Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold on Receiving The
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Edward F. Snyder Award for National Legislative Leadership to
Advance Disarmament and the Building of Peace
Washington,
DC
November 15, 2003
Good
evening. Thank you for this honor. The Friends Committee on
National Legislation has been an important voice of reason and
a leading organization for peace and justice in America and
throughout the world. So, it is especially meaningful to me
to be recognized by you.
On
the subject of the USA PATRIOT Act, it sure was a lonely feeling
in the fall of 2001, when I was the only Senator to vote against
that bill. But I must say, it is gratifying to see, two years
later, an increasing number of Americans from across the political
spectrum beginning to recognize the potential for abuse of power
unleashed by that law. So I am very pleased to join you, as
well as both Democratic and Republican colleagues, to urge changes
to the PATRIOT Act to protect the privacy and civil liberties
of law-abiding Americans.
I
also want to thank you for your support and collaboration as
we have pushed for a moratorium on executions nationwide and
the creation of an independent, blue ribbon commission to review
the fairness of the administration of the death penalty at the
state and federal levels. We have much work to do, but I am
confident that one day we will live in a nation that has concluded
once and for all that capital punishment is wrong and unjust.
Of
course, I appreciate all of your support for critically important
policy initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. I have served on the
Subcommittee for African Affairs since I came to the Senate
in 1993. From conflict resolution in the Congo to promoting
maternal and child health in Nigeria, critically important needs
can and do go unmet unless people speak out. Your voices have
made it far less lonely to call for more consistent attention
to these issues. Recently, all of us who care about Africa won
a victory when meaningful assistance for war-torn Liberia was
included in the supplemental bill for Iraq and Afghanistan,
and I want to thank you for the work that you did on that issue.
No
one who works on African issues can fail to recognize the magnitude
and urgency of the HIV/AIDS crisis. I also appreciate your support
in this realm. For far too long, policy-makers were paralyzed
by the overwhelming statistics associated with this devastating
pandemic. It took advocates mobilizing across the country to
compel the United States Government to act, and it will take
continued effort to ensure that the reality of the U.S. commitment
matches the rhetoric that we hear today in Washington.
I
know that your interests in international issues and your passion
for protecting basic human rights extend beyond the African
continent as well. I want you to know how much I value your
voices when you speak out about human rights abuses in Colombia,
and when you continue to ask tough questions about this Administration's
misguided policy in Iraq. When you refuse to be intimidated,
you give others courage to do the same. And I appreciate your
support for my work on these issues.
Finally,
I have to note, even though it has been a few years since the
bill was passed, how grateful I am for your support on campaign
finance reform. We fought a battle over seven long years that
no one thought we could ever actually win. And we did. We will
soon see, perhaps in the next month, how much of that victory
the Supreme Court will uphold against a constitutional challenge.
I am cautiously optimistic about the case, but regardless of
the outcome, I believe that rescuing our political process from
the domination of big money was, and is, a just cause, and I
thank you for your help.
So,
thank you again for this great honor. I am sorry I could not
be with you in person this evening. But I do look forward to
continuing to work with you, as we continue the fight for peace,
justice, and human rights.
Reviewed 8/22/05
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