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Between the Lines
"Between the Lines" is a national, half-hour program that provides a platform for individuals and spokespersons from progressive organizations generally ignored or marginalized by the mainstream media.
Civil Liberties Advocates Say USA Freedom Act Falls Short on Reforming NSA Dragnet Surveillance
Interview with Sue Udry, executive director, Defending Dissent Foundation, conducted by Scott Harris
In the congressional debate over reforming the National Security Agency’s dragnet surveillance of American’s phone communications, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s political miscalculations allowed three controversial provisions under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act to expire on June 1. However, the law was reinstated the next day when the Senate passed the USA Freedom Act, which the House had approved earlier. President Obama, who supported the bill, signed the USA Freedom Act into law that same day. Story continues
Opponents Rally to Stop Expansion of Gas Pipeline Near Troubled Indian Point Nuclear Plant
Interview with Susan Rubin, climate activist, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
Grassroots groups all over the U.S. are fighting proposals for new or expanded fracked gas pipelines. In the last week of May, about 200 people protested outside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, demanding that the industry-funded agency stops approving all pending permits for pipelines, compressor stations, gas storage facilities and gas export terminals until the agency is completely reformed. Story continues
GOP Voter Suppression Laws Challenged Ahead of 2016 Presidential Election
Interview with Jennifer Clark, counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, conducted by Scott Harris
Since the 2010 midterm election, 21 states, the majority controlled by the Republican Party, have passed an assortment of new laws that make it harder for specific groups of citizens to vote. Fourteen states will have new voting restriction laws in place for the first time in a presidential election in November 2016. These measures include restrictive voter ID laws, reduction in the days and hours of early voting and obstacles placed on registering new voters and accessing absentee ballots. While Republican lawmakers assert new limits on voting rights have been introduced to prevent voter fraud, independent analysis has found no evidence to support their claim. The flood of new regulations disenfranchising voters followed the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling which gutted a key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Story continues
This week’s summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Bob Nixon
- The migrant crisis in Southeast Asia reached a new peak when the Myanmar Navy escorted a boat full of over 700 immigrants to the western state of Rakhine near the border of Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. (“Myanmar escorting migrants to Rakhine state,” AFP, June 2, 2015; “Why Southeast Asia faces a migration crisis this summer,”Christian Science Monitor, May 19, 2015; “Aung San Suu Kyi: where are you?” BBC, June 1, 2015)
- British Prime Minister David Cameron has initiated discussions with European officials with the goal of negotiating a weaker relationship with the European Union. Cameron has named a number of Tory hardliners to his negotiating committee and is talking up the possibility of withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights if major concessions are not granted before the UK’s 2017 referendum on altering its relationship with the EU. (“David Cameron prepared to break with Europe over human rights,” Guardian, June 2, 2015; “Britain must give up EU veto it opts out, Cameron told,” Guardian, June 2, 2015)
- Republican Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush was the featured speaker at an early June weekend confab of top coal executives and Republican donors at an exclusive retreat in Bristol, Virginia. The hour long speech, which was off limits to the press, comes as coal executives and coal state politicians are in a pitched battle with the US Environmental Protection Agency over the final rules on carbon pollution. Energy executives and their Congressional allies increasingly complain of an orchestrated “war on coal.” (“Jeb Bush cozies up to Coal industry barons at closed-door meeting,” The Guardian, May 29, 2015)
