Irish Aires News

Bob Linnon, IAUC President, says:

The Senate Foreign Relations committee will vote on the
treaty on September 7th (SEE BELOW). Please take advantage
of this time period to phone, fax and/or visit your
senators' offices.

We all need to oppose the US/UK Extradition treaty (SEE
SUMMARY OF REASONS BELOW) and contact our Senators
(http://www.congress.com/) and the members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committees (SEE CONTACT INFO BELOW) and express
their desire to defeat this treaty.

The Senate is on a five week vacation until after Labor Day
which means they will be in their home states for much of
that time. They will be certainly getting summaries of
visits, letters, phone calls, faxes & emails (SEE SAMPLE
LETTER BELOW).

The treaty has been denounced by a variety of Irish
American political organizations and the American Civil
Liberties Union as an assault on the Constitutional rights
and basic civil liberties of all Americans. If passed, the
treaty would:

:: Remove the judiciary role from the extradition process, and transfer responsibility to the Executive branch.

:: Allow for provisional arrest and detention of American citizens for 60 days without a formal request from Great Britain, thereby denying Americans their right to have their day in court in front of an impartial judge.

:: Provide that American law need not be violated.

:: Permit retroactive application to alleged activity committed before the treaty's ratification.

:: Eliminate any statute of limitations.

:: Eliminate the need for authorities to demonstrate probable cause.

This treaty is politically motivated and clearly targets
Irish American citizens for persecution in British courts
and all this just for being active in the struggle to
defend the Irish against years of British interference and
misrule.

The US/UK Extradition Treaty has skyrocketed to the top of
the Senate agenda due to British government pressure. We
intend to keep it there, and will continue to voice our
objections to a treaty that, if ratified, would set a
dangerous precedent. Irish Americans now number over 40
million and we vote.

Bob Linnon
----

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Senator State & Party Fax No. Phone No.

Lamar Alexander TN-R 202-228-3398 202-224-4944
George Allen VA-R 202-224-5432 202-224-4024
Joe Biden DE-D 202-224-0139 202-224-5042
Barbara Boxer CA-D 415-956-6701 202-224-3553
Lincoln Chafee RI-R 202-228-2853 202-224-2921
Norm Coleman MN-R 202-224-1152 202-224-5641
Chris Dodd CT-D 202-224-1083 202-224-2823
Russ Feingold WI-D 202-224-2725 202-224-5323
Chuck Hagel NE-R 202-224-5213 202-224-4224
John Kerry MA-D 202-224-8525 202-224-2742
Richard Lugar IN-R 202-228-0360 202-224-4814
Mel Martinez FL-R 202-224-3041 202-224-3041
Lisa Murkowski AK-R 202-224-5301 202-224-6665
Bill Nelson FL-D 202-228-2183 202-224-6551
Barack Obama IL-D 202-228-0400 202-224-2854
Paul Sarbanes MD-D 202-224-1651 202-224-4524
John Sununu NH-R 202-228-4131 202-224-2841
George Voinovich OH-R 202-228-1382 202-224-3353
----

(Note: With the vote scheduled for September 7th, it MIGHT
BE a lost cause to request another hearing (however, it
would probably be easier to amend the treaty than defeat it
on the Senate floor).

You might delete the first two paragraphs and change the
third paragraph to say:

“We object to the US/UK Extradition Treaty for many
reasons. This treaty – “

Remember the "count" of negative messages is frequently
more important than the eloquence of the message.

Take a minute to increase that count.

Jay)
----

SAMPLE LETTER

The Honorable (Full Name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Via Fax: (Ten Digit Number)

Dear Senator (Last Name):

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which you are a
member, is still considering the US/UK Extradition Treaty.
To date Chairman Lugar has held two hearings, one on
November 15, 2005 and another on July 21, 2006. The
hearings have been heavily weighted with government
attorneys who were opposed by our one attorney, Prof.
Francis Boyle, who could not attend the second hearing due
to severe weather causing his flight to be cancelled.

At this time we are asking for a delay in order to
formulate amendments and discuss language with our attorney
and membership. Surely this is a reasonable request since
this treaty has been pending for years. There are many
aspects of this treaty that are a threat to all Americans
and we believe it is imperative that they be rectified now.

We object to this treaty for many reasons. This treaty –

1. IGNORES THE SEPARATION OF POWERS because it transfers responsibility from the federal courts to the Executive Branch.

2. DENIES THOSE CHARGED WITH HAVING A DAY IN COURT.

3. ALLOWS FOR PROVISIONAL ARREST.

4. PROVIDES THAT AMMERICAN LAW NEED NOT BE VIOLATED.

5. PERMITS RETROACTIVE APPLICATION TO ALLEGED ACTIVITY CONDUCTED EVEN BEFORE THE TREATY’S RATIFICATION.

This treaty has nothing to do with Homeland Security or
partisan politics. It is simply an effort to preserve our
basic constitutional rights and civil liberties. Surely a
short delay of a week or two is not asking too much. Thank
you for considering my request.

Sincerely,


Your name signed
Your name typed
Your address
Date
----

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

HEARING before the

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION

Thursday, September 7, 2006
Time: 9:30 AM
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Presiding: Senator Lugar


The Committee will consider and vote on the
following agenda items:

Treaty:

Extradition Treaty between the United States of
America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (Treaty Doc. 108-23)

Nominations:

The Honorable Richard E. Hoagland
To be Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia

The Honorable John R. Bolton
To be U.S. Representative to the United Nations with
rank of Ambassador and U.S. Representative to the
United Nations Security Council and U.S.
Representative to Sessions of the United Nations
General Assembly during his tenure of service as
U.S. Representative to the United Nations

John C. Rood
To be Assistant Secretary of State for International
Security and Non-proliferation

Additional Nominees May Be Added…

Posted by: Unknown / 8:34 AM