From: [n--b--s] at [clari.net] (NB / WAS) Newsgroups: clari.tw.new_media,clari.usa.gov.policy.biz,clari.tw.top,clari.usa.gov Subject: ACLU - 104th Congress Flunks Civil Liberties 10/31/96 Keywords: Bureau-WAS, Government Organization: Copyright 1996 by Newsbytes News Network Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 2:40:24 PST WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1996 OCT 31 (NB) -- By Bill Pietrucha. From Internet censorship to increased wiretapping, the 104th Congress flunked civil liberties, according to a new online Congressional guide by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The interactive guide, published on the ACLU's Freedom Network at http://www.aclu.org/vote-guide and the ACLU's Constitution Hall on America Online, rates the US House and Senate members according to their votes on "key civil liberties issues" and displays the "percentage of times a member voted to preserve civil liberties." "We have been saying all along that this has been one of the most anti-civil liberties Congresses in decades, and the voter guide confirms everything we suspected," Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's National Washington Office, told Newsbytes. The voters guide rates members according to 19 key issues, ranging from a constitutional amendment to prohibit flag desecration to counter-terrorism legislation, and from medical privacy to school vouchers. The average rating for the Senate was 30 percent, Murphy said, with no senator receiving either a 100 or 0 rating. In the House of Representatives, however, 13 representatives received 100 percent ratings and 57 members received 0 ratings. The average rating for the House was 36, she said. A 100 rating was the highest pro-civil liberties rating, while a 0 was the lowest pro-civil liberties rating. "This past year we've been able to defeat some of Congress' worst excesses, in part by providing tools online for people to directly phone, fax, or e-mail their elected representatives," Murphy said. "We hope that civil libertarians will use the guide, not only to monitor votes, but to put Congress on notice that citizens across the country will not stand idly by while the Bill of Rights is legislatively dismantled," she said. Murphy said that, following the signing of the Communications Decency Act, which "criminalized free expression on the Internet," more than 7,000 "netizens" used an action alert on the ACLU's Web site to fax, e-mail, and call US Attorney General Janet Reno urging her not to act on the law until the courts reviewed the ACLU's legal challenge to the Act. Once the new Congress is in session, Murphy said, the ACLU plans to use the voter guide to mobilize citizens to take action in advance of important votes. The voter guide will contain special functions that will allow users to instantly fax or e-mail their representatives, she said. Starting with the 105th Congress, the ACLU voter guide will be updated following key civil liberties votes, Murphy told Newsbytes, so that users can immediately check on the members' records. Murphy said that the online voter guide is just one feature of a revamped "ACLU in Congress" section schedule to debut on the ACLU Freedom Network in January when the 105th Congress takes office. Murphy said that the new site will include more legislative alerts tied to key votes, as well as a daily report from Washington DC, when Congress is in session. The interactive guide will allow visitors the option of reviewing key civil liberties issues, with vote tallies linked to individual members, or linking directly to representatives' records. Users will be able to click directly on a member's name or look them up using a search function that identifies members by zip code. Each record for individual Representatives and Senators will include a list of key issues and a scoreboard indicating whether a member voted with or against the ACLU position or did not vote at all, Murphy said. (Press Contact: Emily Whitfield, American Civil Liberties Union, 212-944-9800 ext 426, Internet e-mail [e--y--u] at [aol.com])