INDIANAPOLIS (February 25, 2008) – Congress should put America’s national security ahead of frivolous lawsuits, American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser said today. The head of the nation’s largest veterans organization sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives, urging them to pass an important intelligence-gathering law immediately.

“Since this war began, the Congress has done an exemplary job of ensuring that the nation’s fighting men and women are the best-trained and best-equipped military ever in American history,” National Commander Marty Conatser wrote. “Today, The American Legion asks you to continue this precedent by equipping the intelligence assets with the necessary tools needed to provide these dedicated troops the very best information available by timely enactment of S.2248, The Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA).”

The bill had bipartisan support in the Senate but is stuck in the House because leaders there do not believe telecommunications companies should be protected from lawsuits that arise from cooperating with surveillance requests.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Va., the Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, also supports the bill. “Unfortunately, much of the debate over this bill has focused on liability protection for telecommunication carriers, instead of the new civil liberties protections and oversight mechanisms that have been included,” Rockefeller said in statement posted on his Senate web site. “We should not hold the carriers hostage to years of litigation for stepping forward when the country asked for help and providing assistance they believed to be legal and necessary. The fact is, if we lose cooperation from these or other private companies, our national security will suffer.”

Conatser pointed out to Representatives that the National Intelligence Estimate noted that the United States will face a persistent and evolving threat over the next three years, with the main threat coming from Islamic terrorist groups and cells.

“It defies all common sense to give lawsuits a higher priority than national security,” Conatser said. “The American people expect Congress to protect America, not the lawsuit lobby. This surveillance is aimed at terrorists who want to kill innocent Americans. The government is not interested in phone calls that you make to Aunt Sally.”

With a current membership of 2.7-million wartime veterans, The American Legion, www.legion.org, was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and patriotic youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.