September, 03 2010, 12:47pm EDT
People For the American Way Congratulates Dolores Huerta on Attacks from Glenn Beck
People For the American Way today offered its warmest congratulations to civil rights leader and PFAW Board Member Dolores Huerta after she was attacked by television host Glenn Beck. Huerta was singled out for her work protecting undocumented workers from exploitation by employers.
WASHINGTON
People For the American Way today offered its warmest congratulations to civil rights leader and PFAW Board Member Dolores Huerta after she was attacked by television host Glenn Beck. Huerta was singled out for her work protecting undocumented workers from exploitation by employers.
"Dolores Huerta has dedicated her career to ensuring that all people are treated with respect," said Michael B. Keegan, President of People For the American Way. "To be attacked for being a part of a 'creepy circle of radical 60s types' by Glenn Beck is a wonderful 80th birthday gift for an iconic activist. We could not be prouder of her on the occasion of this attack.
"I'm surprised, though, that Beck would expose this level of vitriol just a few days after his massive effort to cloak his ideology in the legacy of Martin Luther King. Last weekend he spent an enormous amount of energy portraying himself as a moderate, positive conservative-it sure didn't take long for him to revert to his usual habit of pushing ugly, angry, dishonest smears. With lightening speed he moved from co-opting the legacy of one civil rights icon to bashing another"
As the target of Beck, Huerta joins the distinguished company of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger, Harvey Milk, churches fighting for social justice, and then-11-year-old Malia Obama, all of whom have earned Beck's scorn.
People For the American Way works to build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. We encourage civic participation, defend fundamental rights, and fight to dismantle systemic barriers to equitable opportunity. We fight against right-wing extremism and the injustice it fosters.
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While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
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The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Project on Surveillance Oversight, also praised the House's FANFSA passage on Wednesday.
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Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU, similarly said Wednesday that "the bipartisan passage of this bill is a flashing warning sign to the government that if it wants our data, it must get a warrant."
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