Childish, Partisan, and Not Secure

23 July 2005

I urge you to vote down both the Reid and Frist amendments because they are both poorly drafted and lack scope. The language smacks of political retribution and I know we can do better.

Disclosure of classified information is an important issue that needs to be dealt with; however, politics needs to exit the process. We need to bring the Reid and First groups together to draft and amendment or law of appropriate scope that removes politics and only considers national security.

Please vote down both the Reid and Frist amendments.

I would like to thank you for your Nay votes on the two amendments (1222 and the second degree amendment) regarding public official and federal employee disclosure of classified information.

I know we can do better. Why? I believe in you and your colleagues. We need to get this right because it is important and the right is to take politics out and discuss it like adults and not 3 year-olds trying to score points.

It has gotten very bad because some think we have to politicize national security issues like this. Why must we make everything political? This is one thing I would like to see changed about the way business is done.

In reference to Mr. Rove. I am not sure if he broke the law, but I do wish that we would let Mr. Fitzgerald do his job without the political wrangling. The American people deserve no less than a full accounting of who did what and to not give Mr. Rove the presumption of innocence is wrong. He is no different than the rest of us, except for his position, but that does not give us the ability to throw out the presumption of innocence.

Mr. Rove may have given out information that led to revealing the agent’s name and should be punished in some way all though the law does not provide for it, but we can not punish him after fact by creating a law. I think the President will deal with it properly when he knows exactly what happened. However, we do need to prevent this from happening or be able to punish it in the future without catching people that don't deserve to be caught.

Sent on July14, 2005