Some in Washington might see the Bush years shrinking to a dot on the political horizon behind them. This week, however, Congressman Nadler helped magnify two specific issues that remain from that time period.
The first was the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act. A particular bugbear for many liberals (and some libertarians), a number of provisions of the act were set to expire. The House and Senate approved, and President Obama signed into law, an extension. Nadler was one of 97 House members who voted against the renewal.
From his speech on the House floor during debate:
[W]e are punting to the next Congress, which for all practical purposes means that we are extending the PATRIOT Act unchanged for the indefinite future. I believe that our Nation and our liberties will suffer as a result of this.
The second issue involved two former Bush Administration lawyers, John Yoo and Jay Bybee. Considered authors of memos authorizing torture methods such as water boarding, both were recently found to have engaged in professional misconduct, but the official report was overturned by top Department of Justice officials.
In a defiant move, Nadler has sent the details of the report to the state bar associations Yoo and Bybee are registered under. Last year, Nadler was part of a push to impeach Bybee, who is now a federal judge, over the memos. His hope, however unlikely, is that Yoo and Bybee will be disbarred.
While so much of the activity these days is focused on the big current issues such as health care or jobs, it’s interesting, if not surprising, to see Nadler continue to focus on correcting (or attacking, depending on your feelings) some of the more controversial practices from the Bush years. His position as chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties provides him the perfect opportunity to focus on these issues.
His track record on other liberal and progressive agenda items, such as repealing the Defense of Marriage Act, indicates he has the political backing and security to pursue this agenda without electoral consequences, despite Congress’s trajectory. It’s jobs and health care now, even as Nadler fights like it’s 2005.