Who is the Eli Lilly Bandit that inserted a rider into the Homeland Security Bill that protects this giant drug manufacturer from lawsuits over a vaccine that may have resulted in autism in children? Lisa English of Ruminate This is outraged--as we all should be.

TomPaine.com is offering a $10,000. reward for the name of the person. Journalists so far have failed to identify the person.

If you've got a blog, please spread the word and link to the TomPaine resources. Thanks.

There is a New Breed of Patriots speaking up against the Patriot Act. Grass-roots efforts to rein in the anti-terrorist USA Patriot Act are gaining support in Eugene, Ore., Ann Arbor, MI, Denver and other cities. We wrote about this back in July when there were seven cities that had passed resolutions opposing aspects of the Act. Now, at least 21 cities have passed such resolutions.

If you don't mind legalese, you can read the full text of the Act here, courtesy of EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center .

If you would like to read a section by section analysis of the Act with some critical commentary, you can pay $19 to Lexis and order the book we co-authored on the Act. It's called "The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001: An Analysis" by Stanley Mailman, Jeralyn E. Merritt, Theresa M. B. Van Vliet, and Stephen Yale-Loehr. Book Description and On-Line Order Form . Unfortunately, we don't get royalties or commissions.

Bottom Line: A better name for the Patriot Act would be the Anti-American Act.

Via Hamster, Working for Change has reprinted a 1998 Molly Ivins column on asset forfeiture reform. The civil asset forfeture act did receive a welcome overhaul in 2000 (thanks mostly to the conservative republicans like Henry Hyde and Bob Barr, who so strongly believe in property rights) despite efforts by the Justice Department (yes, under Clinton) to weaken it.

Still, we didn't get as much as we wanted in the bill and Ivins' article highlights the problems with forfeiture laws.

For more on problems with forfeiture laws, visit FEAR (Forfeiture Endangers Americans' Rights)

Jim at Rittenhouse points us to this newsworthy article: California has passed a law granting a new hearing to inmates doing time for killing their abusive partners.

The law, almost a year old, may release hundreds of battered women serving jail terms for murder. It provides inmates with "a chance to prove the outcome of their trial could have been different had evidence of "battered-woman syndrome" been presented." The effect: Abused women now have "one last legal tool to seek a new trial, have the severity of their offense reduced or even be released with time served"

Kudos to California, we hope other states follow suit.

Via Atrios, the nine who voted against the Homeland Security Bill:

Akaka (D-HI)
Byrd (D-WV)
Feingold (D-WI)
Hollings (D-SC)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Levin (D-MI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)

The Homeland Security Bill passed the Senate today by a vote of 90 to 9.

By a 52-47 vote, earlier today Senators rejected "a Democratic bid to block provisions that will aid vaccine producers and other industries. That vote came after Republican leaders made last-minute concessions that ensured support from four moderate senators."

The final vote was 90-9.

The Democratic-sought amendment to the Homeland Security Bill failed today, much to the delight of Republicans. The bill is now final and appears destined for passage, even in this still democratically-controlled Senate.

"The Senate voted 52-47 to reject an amendment that would have removed from the bill seven provisions that Democrats said were favors to friends of Republicans. The president and his key advisers actively lobbied wavering senators to defeat the amendment, saying its approval could doom passage of the bill this year."

According to Bush's plan, the new agency will combine 170,000 federal workers from 22 existing agencies. It will be " the biggest federal government reorganization since Harry Truman created the Defense Department in 1947."

The bill is H.R. 5005 and you can read the text of it here.The bill creates a new cabinet position to deal with terrorism. Most democrats supported the idea of a new agency, but objected to last minute additions that favored big business, such as one which granted immunity to pharmaceutical companies for side-effects caused by their vaccines.

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., leading opponent of the legislation, said, "It's the Senate's last chance to show the American people that we are serious about placing some controls on this massive new bureaucracy."

Here is our post on how a last minute addition could bring life in prison to hackers.

We are also dismayed that the Total Information Awareness program (TIA), a creation of retired rear Admiral John Poindexter, is still in the bill. The program, invented by John Poindexter, a rear admiral with a less than sterling record, would create a huge national database of all our personal records, from banking to credit card purchases and more. Poindexter justifies the program as a national security enhancement. We call it an assault on civil liberties.

You can read about the protest letter sent by 30 civil rights organizations to the Senate this week here. A quote from the letter:

"TIA will collect and mine vast amounts of information on the American public, including telephone records, bank records, medical records, and educational and travel data. TIA also proposes to connect with a massive system of biometric identification. There are no systems of oversight or accountability contemplated in the TIA project. DARPA itself has resisted lawful requests for information about the program pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act."

"We urge you to act immediately to stop the development of this unconstitutional system of public surveillance."

Eric Alterman has a good call to action up on Altercation today on the Homeland Security Bill. The full text of the bill is available here.

Here is our post on how a last minute addition could bring life in prison to hackers.

The bill may be voted on tomorrow, so call your senators today. For how to do that, check out MoveOn's Homeland Security Bill action alert today.

"A last-minute addition to a proposal for a Department of Homeland Security could punish malicious computer hackers with life in prison. "

"During closed-door negotiations before the debate on the Homeland Security Bill began, "the House Republican leadership inserted the 16-page Cyber Security Enhancement Act (CSEA) into the Homeland Security bill. CSEA expands the ability of police to conduct Internet or telephone eavesdropping without first obtaining a court order, and offers Internet providers more latitude to disclose information to police."

Here is the text of the CSEA, H.R.3482, as passed by the House.
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Great news from Mark Agrast, the chair of the ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities and Counsel and Legislative Director to Rep. William D. Delahunt (D-MA):

As the House of Representatives completed its business for the year, Congressman Bill Delahunt and Congressman Ray LaHood announced that the Innocence Protection Act had reached a new milestone of 250 House cosponsors. Adding their support to the bill were:

Representative Bart Gordon of Tennessee
Representative Rob Andrews of New Jersey
Representative Adam Schiff of California
Representative Stephen F. Lynch of Massachusetts

The complete list of cosponsors appears below.

We are immensely grateful to our House and Senate cosponsors and to all those who have worked so hard to build support for the bill. While we did not cross the finish line during the session just ending, we look forward to working with you as we renew our efforts in January.

H.R. 912, INNOCENCE PROTECTION ACT OF 2001

COSPONSORS

Republicans (67) in roman, Democrats (182) in italics, Independents (1) in small caps.

Members who have died or left the House appear in brackets.

William D. Delahunt (MA)
Ray LaHood (IL)
Neil Abercrombie (HI)
Aníbal Acevedo-Vilá (PR)
Gary L. Ackerman (NY)
Thomas H. Allen (ME)
Rob Andrews (NJ)
Joe Baca (CA)
Spencer Bachus (AL)
Brian Baird (WA)
John Elias Baldacci (ME)
Tammy Baldwin (WI)
Thomas M. Barrett (WI)
Roscoe G. Bartlett (MD)
Charles F. Bass (NH)
Xavier Becerra (CA)
Shelley Berkley (NV)
Howard L. Berman (CA)
Rod R. Blagojevich (IL)
Earl Blumenauer (OR)
Sherwood L. Boehlert (NY)
John A. Boehner (OH)
David E. Bonior (MI)
Mary Bono (CA)
Robert A. Borski (PA)
Leonard L. Boswell (IA)
Rick Boucher (VA)
Allen Boyd (FL)
Robert A. Brady (PA)
Corrine Brown (FL)
Sherrod Brown (OH)
Dan Burton (IN)
Ken Calvert (CA)
Dave Camp (MI)
Lois Capps (CA)
Chris Cannon (UT)
Michael E. Capuano (MA)
Benjamin L. Cardin (MD)
Brad Carson (OK)
Julia Carson (IN)
Michael N. Castle (DE)
Donna M. Christensen (VI)
William Lacy Clay (MO)
Eva M. Clayton (NC)
James E. Clyburn (SC)
Howard Coble (NC)
John Conyers, Jr. (MI)
Jerry F. Costello (IL)
William J. Coyne (PA)
Philip M. Crane (IL)
Joseph Crowley (NY)
Elijah E. Cummings (MD)
Danny K. Davis (IL)
Susan A. Davis (CA)
Tom Davis (VA)
Peter A. DeFazio (OR)
Diana DeGette (CO)
Rosa L. DeLauro (CT)
Norman D. Dicks (WA)
Lloyd Doggett (TX)
Calvin M. Dooley (CA)
Michael F. Doyle (PA)
Jennifer Dunn (WA)

Vernon J. Ehlers (MI)
Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. (MD)
Jo Ann Emerson (MO)
Eliot L. Engel (NY)
Phil English (PA)
Anna G. Eshoo (CA)
Lane Evans (IL)
Eni FH Faleomavaega (AS)
Sam Farr (CA)
Chaka Fattah (PA)
Bob Filner (CA)
Mark Foley (FL)
Harold E. Ford, Jr. (TN)
Barney Frank (MA)
Martin Frost (TX)
Greg Ganske (IA)
Richard A. Gephardt (MO)
Wayne T. Gilchrest (MD)
Paul E. Gillmor (OH)
Benjamin A. Gilman (NY)
Charles A. Gonzalez (TX)
Bart Gordon (TN)
James C. Greenwood (PA)
Felix J. Grucci, Jr. (NY)
Luis V. Gutierrez (IL)
[Tony P. Hall (OH)]
Jane Harman (CA)
Melissa A. Hart (PA)
Alcee L. Hastings (FL)
Doc Hastings (WA)
Joel Hefley (CO)
Baron P. Hill (IN)
Earl F. Hilliard (AL)
Maurice D. Hinchey (NY)
Rubén Hinojosa (TX)
David L. Hobson (OH)
Joseph M. Hoeffel (PA)
Rush D. Holt (NJ)
Michael M. Honda (CA)
Darlene Hooley (OR)
Stephen Horn (CA)
Amo Houghton (NY)
Steny H. Hoyer (MD)
Jay Inslee (WA)
Steve Israel (NY)
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (IL)
Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)
William J. Jefferson (LA)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX)
Nancy L. Johnson (CT)
Timothy V. Johnson (IL)
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH)
Paul E. Kanjorski (PA)
Marcy Kaptur (OH)
Sue W. Kelly (NY)
Patrick J. Kennedy (RI)
Dale E. Kildee (MI)
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (MI)
Ron Kind (WI)
Peter T. King (NY)
Gerald D. Kleczka (WI)
Jim Kolbe (AZ)

Dennis J. Kucinich (OH)
John J. LaFalce (NY)
Nick Lampson (TX)
James R. Langevin (RI)
Tom Lantos (CA)
Rick Larsen (WA)
John B. Larson (CT)
Steven C. LaTourette (OH)
James A. Leach (IA)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Sander M. Levin (MI)
John Lewis (GA)
William O. Lipinski (IL)
Zoe Lofgren (CA)
Nita M. Lowey (NY)
Bill Luther (MN)
Stephen F. Lynch (MA)
Carolyn B. Maloney (NY)
James H. Maloney (CT)
Edward J. Markey (MA)
Robert T. Matsui (CA)
Carolyn McCarthy (NY)
Karen McCarthy (MO)
Betty McCollum (MN)
Jim McDermott (WA)
James P. McGovern (MA)
John M. McHugh (NY)
Scott McInnis (CO)
Cynthia A. McKinney (GA)
Michael R. McNulty (NY)
Martin T. Meehan (MA)
Carrie P. Meek (FL)
Gregory W. Meeks (NY)
Juanita Millender-McDonald (CA)
George Miller (CA)
[Patsy T. Mink (HI)]
[John Joseph Moakley (MA)]
Dennis Moore (KS)
James P. Moran (VA)
Constance A. Morella (MD)
John P. Murtha (PA)
Sue Wilkins Myrick (NC)
Jerrold Nadler (NY)
Grace Napolitano (CA)
Richard E. Neal (MA)
George R. Nethercutt, Jr. (WA)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
James L. Oberstar (MN)
John W. Olver (MA)
Tom Osborne (NE)
Major R. Owens (NY)
Michael G. Oxley (OH)
Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ)
Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ)
Ed Pastor (AZ)
Donald M. Payne (NJ)
Nancy Pelosi (CA)
Collin C. Peterson (MN)
Thomas E. Petri (WI)
David D. Phelps (IL)
Todd Russell Platts (PA)
Earl Pomeroy (ND)
Rob Portman (OH)

David E. Price (NC)
Deborah Pryce (OH)
Jack Quinn (NY)
Nick J. Rahall (WV)
Jim Ramstad (MN)
Charles B. Rangel (NY)
Silvestre Reyes (TX)
Lynn N. Rivers (MI)
Ciro D. Rodriguez (TX)
Tim Roemer (IN)
Dana Rohrabacher (CA)
Steven R. Rothman (NJ)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA)
Bobby L. Rush (IL)
Martin Olav Sabo (MN)
Loretta Sanchez (CA)
Bernard Sanders (VT)
Max Sandlin (TX)
Tom Sawyer (OH)
[Joe Scarborough (FL)]
Janice D. Schakowsky (IL)
Adam B. Schiff (CA)
Robert C. Scott (VA)
José E. Serrano (NY)
Christopher Shays (CT)
Brad Sherman (CA)
Rob Simmons (CT)
Louise M. Slaughter (NY)
Adam Smith (WA)
Christopher H. Smith (NJ)
Hilda L. Solis (CA)
Mark E. Souder (IN)
John M. Spratt, Jr. (SC)
Fortney Pete Stark (CA)
Cliff Stearns (FL)
Ted Strickland (OH)
Bart Stupak (MI)
John E. Sweeney (NY)
Ellen O. Tauscher (CA)
Bennie G. Thompson (MS)
Mike Thompson (CA)
Karen L. Thurman (FL)
Patrick J. Tiberi (OH)
John F. Tierney (MA)
Patrick J. Toomey (PA)
Edolphus Towns (NY)
[James A. Traficant, Jr. (OH)]
Mark Udall (CO)
Tom Udall (NM)
Fred Upton (MI)
Nydia M. Velázquez (NY)
James T. Walsh (NY)
Maxine Waters (CA)
Diane E. Watson (CA)
Melvin L. Watt (NC)
Henry A. Waxman (CA)
Anthony D. Weiner (NY)
Curt Weldon (PA)
Robert Wexler (FL)
Frank R. Wolf (VA)
Lynn C. Woolsey (CA)
Albert R. Wynn (MD)
________________________________________________________________
Mark D. Agrast, Counsel and Legislative Director
The Honorable William D. Delahunt
United States House of Representatives
1317 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515
202.225.3111 (phone) 202.225.5658 (fax)
mark.agrast@mail.house.gov

The full text of the Homeland Security Bill that passed Congress is available here, courtesy of the White House.

The Bush Homeland Security Bill gained support in the Senate today "with GOP leaders embracing the deal and Democrats not standing in the way, the House could approve the legislation as soon as today. The Senate, under Democratic control for several more days, could grant final approval later this week or early next week."

"The agreement would give Bush nearly all the flexibility he sought to bypass civil service rules in hiring, firing and promoting the 170,000 workers from 22 agencies that would be combined into the new department. The president also could waive collective bargaining rights when national security was deemed to be at stake."

"The proposal drew a sharp dissent from the American Federation of Government Employees, the large union of federal workers. "The American public needs to know that the president's so-called compromise . . . is a Trojan horse," said union President Bobby L. Harnage. "It has nothing to do with improving security. All it does is strip federal workers of the right to defend themselves in the workplace."

Sen. John Breaux of Lousiana summed up the centrist's attitude: "the new proposal recognizes political realities while improving earlier White House positions. "This was the best we could get, knowing it would pass" anyway, Breaux said."

Is this resigned attitude what we have to look forward to for the next two years? Once again we say the Dems need to move to the left and get off center field. We are going to become a one-party nation.