U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
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Time's up for Robert Mugabe

As posted on Huffington Post
Tue December 9, 2008

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and I don't always agree on the issues, but when it comes to her take on crisis in Zimbabwe, I couldn't agree more. Last week, Secretary Rice was right to call the June 27th election in Zimbabwe, as well as the power-sharing negotiations to this point, what they are -- a sham. European Union leaders, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga among others have echoed this message. And with Zimbabwe facing a severe humanitarian crisis, it's time now for all leaders in the region as well as throughout the international community to join that call and stand up to Robert Mugabe.

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Progressivism and the Rule of Law

As posted on Daily Kos
Sat December 6, 2008

Yesterday, I had the chance to sit down with Bill Moyers and discuss some of the challenges we face at this pivotal moment for our country, after one of the most remarkable elections in American history. Barack Obama’s election is a chance for renewal after eight years of the Bush Administration; now that we’re no longer circling the wagons against attacks on our core progressive principles, we can work to advance those principles in this new era. I invite you to take a look at our conversation, which touched on how progressives are defined by their history of fighting for the middle class, a clean and open government and a government that looks out for all members of society without getting in the way.

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Core of McCain-Feingold Untouched

As posted on Huffington Post
Thu June 26, 2008

Today's Supreme Court decision on the millionaire's amendment left the core of the McCain-Feingold law intact, and that's good news for everyone who cares about stamping out corruption in government. The most important part of McCain-Feingold has always been the ban on soft money, a ban the Supreme Court upheld in 2003. That ban did one very simple, very important thing: It ended unlimited contributions to the national parties and prohibited federal officials and candidates from raising those contributions for federal or state parties.

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By Damaging Our Partnerships, We Damage Our Security

As posted on Huffington Post
Wed March 19, 2008

As the war in Iraq enters its sixth year, official US casualty figures approach 4,000 dead and nearly 30,000 wounded. These figures exclude the many who have less visible but no less damaging injuries to mental health; those whose injuries resulted from accidents while they served in a war zone; and the scores of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Iraqi civilians who have died and been wounded since this misguided war was launched. These are the most meaningful - and the saddest - costs of this war.

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The Warnings are There, Will the President Listen?

As posted on Huffington Post
Wed February 20, 2008

Today, as Americans analyze the election results from my home state, I'd like to share with you the concerns I've been hearing from Wisconsinites at my town hall meetings. Again and again, I hear the same, often anguished question: When will we get our brave troops out of Iraq? The war is a top concern for Wisconsinites, and so many Americans around the country.

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It's Not Just About Immunity

As posted on Daily Kos
Thu January 17, 2008

When the Senate reconvenes next week, legislation to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will be among the first issues we address. I am as determined as ever to use all procedural tools at my disposal, including a filibuster, to try to stop the FISA legislation if it doesn’t protect the privacy of law abiding Americans or if it includes immunity for telecom companies.

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Temporary Success in the Senate

As posted on Talking Points Memo
Tue December 18, 2007

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided last night to pull the deeply flawed Intelligence Committee FISA bill from the floor. He announced that we would return to the bill in January. Senator Chris Dodd did a great job controlling the floor for much of yesterday, insisting on full debate of the motion to proceed after cloture was invoked. We made it clear that we will do everything we can to stop this bad bill from being jammed through.

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The FISA Debate Begins

As posted on Talking Points Memo
Mon December 17, 2007

It's now up to the Senate to stand up for the rule of law and against the misinformation and fear tactics that the administration always rolls out on the surveillance issue. That means Democrats will have to finally stand up to the administration on national security issues. Strong votes in favor of our efforts to improve the bill, even if they don’t succeed, will strengthen our hand as a final bill is negotiated with the House, which passed a much better bill than S. 2248 last month.

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What's at Stake in Pakistan

As posted on Huffington Post
Tue November 13, 2007

The news coming out of Pakistan reminds us of what's at stake in our relationship with that nation -- which possesses nuclear weapons and serves as a base camp for al Qaeda -- and how our Iraq-centric policies are undermining our national security interests in the region. As the administration struggles to respond to General Pervez Musharraf's imposition of martial law, it's important for us to step back and reassess our national security priorities in the region.

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Vote on Iraq Again and Again

As posted on Huffington Post
Tue October 3, 2007

Congress's job right now should be to bring our troops home safely, and we can't turn away from this issue just because it's tough going. The only way we will ever get our troops out is by putting constant pressure on supporters of this disastrous war. Let's make them vote again and again, so that they have to go back home and explain why they keep voting to keep our troops in Iraq. When they feel the heat for their vote, that's when they will change their vote, and that's how we will bring our troops home.

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Lessons not Learned

As posted on Huffington Post
Mon August 6, 2007

Six years ago, in the aftermath of 9/11, Congress rammed through the USA PATRIOT Act with little consideration of what that bill actually contained. Five years ago, Congress authorized a reckless and ill-advised war in Iraq. One year ago, Congress passed the deeply flawed Military Commissions Act. And late last week, a Democratic Congress passed legislation that dramatically expands the government's ability to conduct warrantless wiretapping, which could affect innocent Americans. It is clear that many congressional Democrats have not learned from those earlier mistakes, two of which happened when Democrats controlled the Senate. Once again, Congress has buckled to pressure and intimidation by the administration.

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Demanding Accountability

As posted on Daily Kos
Sun July 22, 2007

So, as I announced a little while ago on Meet the Press, I plan to introduce two censure resolutions in the Senate in the coming weeks. These will be broad resolutions, one of which will address the war in Iraq, including the administration's efforts to mislead the nation into, and during, the war, mismanagement of the war, and its attempts to justify this Iraq mistake by distorting the situation on the ground in Iraq. The other condemns the administration's abuse of the rule of law. Because, of all this administration's outrageous misconduct, those are truly the worst of the worst.

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The Question of Impeachment

As posted on Daily Kos
Mon July 16, 2007

Last week I came here to discuss how I plan to tighten my legislation to end the open-ended military mission in Iraq so the Administration would not be able to exploit it and keep tens of thousands of troops, if not more, stuck in the middle of an Iraqi civil war. I appreciated all of the responses and of course I noticed that many of you advocated for the impeachment of the President as well as the Vice President and the Attorney General. I’ve been hearing some of those same comments in Wisconsin.

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Getting out means getting out

As posted on Daily Kos
Fri July 13, 2007

With Senate Democrats increasingly united, it looks as if for the first time, a majority of the Senate will support binding legislation with a firm end date for our open-ended military presence in Iraq, something I first called for, with support and input from so many of you, back in August of 2005.

This would be a watershed moment but we all agree that it has taken far too long to get here. The binding language in Levin-Reed makes this amendment significant and I will support it. But there are aspects of the amendment that are cause for concern – in particular, the exception for "providing logistical support" to Iraqi troops could give the administration too much wiggle room to "repackage" its failed military mission instead of redeploying our troops.

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Fixing America's Broken Image Abroad

As posted on The Hill Blog
Thu May 24, 2007

Over the past several years, poor decision-making by this administration has led to an alarming increase in negative opinions of the United States. People-to-people engagement is one of the United States’ most effective public diplomacy tools and, today more than ever, we need to be investing in every opportunity to improve the perception of the U.S. overseas.

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A Collapse for Democrats

As posted on Daily Kos
Tue May 22, 2007

This situation is a collapse for Democrats.  We had a strong start, pushed back against the President's failed policy and held our ground that the supplemental should include binding language to end the war.  But now, as Congress gets ready to send the President a bill that does nothing to get our troops out of Iraq, we are just folding our cards.

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After the Veto

As posted on Huffington Post
Wed May 2, 2007

The ink on the President's veto is barely dry, and already, a lot of Washington insiders -- including some Democrats -- are saying Congress should just give in to the President. Never mind how hard people have pushed to bring Congress to this point, when we are finally standing up to the President's disastrous Iraq policy -- they want to give up on the binding language in the bill requiring the President to begin redeploying troops from Iraq. But that's just letting the President have his way all over again. That's the kind of thinking that got us into this war in the first place, and it's not going to cut it anymore.

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A hold by any other name is still a hold

As posted on Daily Kos
Mon Apr 23, 2007

Last week, Sen. Feinstein and I went to the Senate floor to try to get unanimous consent to pass the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, S. 223. The bill had been reported by the Rules Committee on a voice vote nearly three weeks earlier and has 35 bipartisan cosponsors. No one expressed opposition to it at either the March 14th Rules Committee hearing on the bill or in the Rules Committee markup when the bill was voted out of committee. We went to the floor because while Sen. Reid had determined that no Democratic Senator objected to passing the bill, the Republican leadership was not as forthcoming. As everyone now knows, Sen. Alexander objected "on behalf of a Republican Senator" to our request for unanimous consent to take up and pass the bill.

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Ratcheting Up the Pressure

As posted on Daily Kos
Thu Apr 5, 2007

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did a great job getting the supplemental spending bill through the Senate last week. We were able to pass a bill with tough, binding language that forces the President to begin redeploying our troops from Iraq in 120 days. But our work is far from over – we have got to keep pushing to end the terrible mistake in Iraq. That next step has got to be Congress using its power of the purse to end the war.

I was extremely pleased to announce the Feingold/Reid bill this week, which many of you may already know something about. When the Senate reconvenes next week, we will introduce legislation that uses Congress’s constitutional spending power to force the President to safely redeploy troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008, with some narrow exceptions. By agreeing to cosponsor this measure, and by saying that he will work to make sure this bill gets a vote before the end of May, Harry Reid has again shown his strong commitment to pushing for an end to U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

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Warner/Levin Resolution a Mistake

As posted on Daily Kos
Thu Feb 1, 2007

When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee took up the Biden-Hagel resolution opposing the President’s troop escalation proposal last week, I supported it as a first step toward ending our involvement in this war. That resolution didn’t go nearly far enough – it was nonbinding and just focused on the escalation – but putting the Senate on record against the "surge" was a small step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, the new Warner-Levin resolution that many Democrats are pushing is flawed and unacceptable. It rejects the surge, but it also misunderstands the situation in Iraq and endorses the President’s underlying approach. It’s basically a back-door authorization of the President’s misguided policies, and passing it would be a big mistake.

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Time to Use the Power of the Purse

As posted on Daily Kos
Thu Jan 11, 2007

Last night, as the President told the American people that he wants to send more troops to Iraq, his Iraq policy hit rock bottom. The American people are demanding an end to the war, and it has to end for the sake of our national security. But the President just wants to dig us into a deeper hole, by sending more of our brave men and women into Baghdad and Anbar Province.

This war has got to stop, and Congress has the power stop it: the power of the purse. And I’m not just talking about blocking the troop surge here. Using the power of the purse just to stop the troop surge may be better than doing nothing, but if we don’t go beyond that, we will be accepting the status quo. We have to do more.

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Responding to the Call for Change

As posted on Huffington Post
Fri Jan 5, 2007

On November 7th, 2006, Americans sent thirty-one new Democrats to the House and eight new Democrats (and a very progressive Independent) to the Senate with two clear mandates – fix our broken Iraq policy and clean up the way Congress does business. Our message to the voters should be just as clear: a Democratic Congress will demand immediate change in Iraq and pass tough ethics reform.

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A Washington Inside Job

As posted on Huffington Post
Fri Dec 8, 2006

When the Iraq Study Group's report was unveiled this week, it was like the opening of a blockbuster movie, with reporters counting down the minutes until it was released. But now that all the hoopla has subsided, all we are left with is a Washington inside job: a report written by Washington insiders, for Washington insiders, who share the same mindset that led us into the misguided war in Iraq.

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A Way Out of Iraq

As posted on Tom Paine
Thu Nov 16, 2006

On Election Day, the American people weighed in at the ballot box: They want to get our troops out of Iraq. Voters rejected the president’s failed Iraq policy, putting Democrats in charge of Congress and responsible for setting a new direction for Iraq, and, most importantly, for our national security.

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The Most Outrageous Scandal? Bush's Iraq Policy

As posted on The Huffington Post
Thu Oct 5, 2006

With so much attention focused on the Foley scandal, there's another story that hasn't received enough notice: escalating violence in Iraq has resulted in the reported deaths of 24 U.S. soldiers since Saturday, and the Pentagon just reported that IED attacks in Iraq are at an all-time high.

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Helping People Make it Home Again, a Year after Katrina

As posted on The Huffington Post
Mon Aug 28, 2006

With the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina coming up tomorrow, as so many Americans remember the horrifying images of the disaster, the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will be dealing with reality they face today - that in a lot of neighborhoods it looks like a hurricane hit a week ago, not a year ago.

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Universal Health Care Within Reach

As posted on TomPaine.com
Wed Aug 2, 2006

When it comes to health care, people’s frustration with Congress is high, and it’s justified. While Congress has been wasting its time by trying to ban marriage equality and flag burning, health care reform has been completely sidelined. Meanwhile, families are going into bankruptcy to pay their health care bills, businesses are sinking under the weight of enormous health care costs, and millions of Americans are going without care—and in some cases dying—because they are uninsured. Congress may see waiting as an option, but the American people certainly don’t.

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The Administration's Defense for Illegal Wiretapping is Just Plain Gone

As posted on Daily Kos and Booman Tribune
Tue Jul 18, 2006

With the Administration doing so much to weaken our system of checks and balances, a lot of Americans were heartened to see the third branch of government - the judiciary - stand up to the Administration with the decision in the Hamdan case a few weeks ago. The Supreme Court made it crystal clear that all detainees have basic rights under U.S. and international law, and that the Administration has to scrap its plan to try some detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in military commissions that lacked basic safeguards of fairness.

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Our Duty to the People of the Gulf Coast

As posted on The Huffington Post
Wed Jul 12, 2006

After Banda Aceh in Indonesia was devastated by a horrific tsunami in 2004, the people there faced the challenge of rebuilding and restarting their lives. That is the same challenge that people on the Gulf Coast are facing today. I visited Banda Aceh earlier this year on a trip to Indonesia, and earlier this week I visited some of the neighborhoods ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

I was struck by what the people in Banda Aceh and New Orleans had in common, both because of what they went through, and because of the incredible resilience they have shown in the wake of those tragedies. But I was just as struck by how those places differed - especially how, in many ways, New Orleans seemed worse off than Banda Aceh did a year after the disaster.

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Blocking the Back-Door Pay Raise

As posted on Daily Kos
Tue Jun 27, 2006

Something I didn't get a chance to mention on Meet the Press on Sunday is the back door pay raise for members of Congress. It may not be the biggest issue facing us as a nation, but it's something that's always bugged me, and it may come up in the Senate soon. This issue is symbolic to me of how out of touch and insulated some elected officials in Washington are from the problems that regular Americans face.

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A Shameful Political Ploy

As posted on Daily Kos
Tue Jun 6, 2006

The federal marriage amendment, which would write discrimination into the Constitution, is an obvious attempt to change the subject from topics that the Congress should be addressing to a hot button social issue intended to appeal to certain factions. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Frist plans to hold a vote on this mean-spirited proposal. It has no chance of receiving the two-thirds majority required for constitutional amendments. The only thing bringing it up now will accomplish is to push Congress further away from the issues it should be addressing and engage the Senate of the United States in a shameful political ploy.

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Censuring the President

As posted on Daily Kos
Mon Mar 13, 2006

Like all Americans, I woke up on the morning of September 11th, 2001 as though it was simply another day. The horrific events that unfolded made it anything but, and our lives were changed forever. In the days after 9/11, I was proud to stand with the President in strong support of the authorization to use force against those who attacked us. During those days our President showed great leadership. Politics were put aside, the country pulled together and for a brief time we were united.

In the four-plus years since, everything changed. The President exploited the climate of anxiety, misusing the trust he was given in the wake of the attacks on 9/11 to, among other things, grab intrusive powers in the Patriot Act, and take us into a war in Iraq that has been a diversion from the critical fight against terrorism.

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Pre-1776 Mentality

As posted on Daily Kos
Tue Feb 2, 2006

I've seen some strange things in my life, but I cannot describe the feeling I had, sitting on the House floor during Tuesday's State of the Union speech, listening to the President assert that his executive power is, basically, absolute, and watching several members of Congress stand up and cheer him on. It was surreal and disrespectful to our system of government and to the oath that as elected officials we have all sworn to uphold. Cheering? Clapping? Applause? All for violating the law?

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Iraq: Looking Back, Looking Forward

As posted on Daily Kos
Mon Nov 14, 2005

On Veteran's Day, the President gave yet another speech trying to defend his Iraq policy. He uttered over 5800 words, but not once did he provide the American people any timeframe for our military mission in Iraq or any sense that he has a plan for bringing that mission to a successful end. Instead, he used the same platitudes and empty rhetoric that the American people have already made clear they don't buy. Rather than putting his efforts into a major media spin operation, the President should concentrate on getting our Iraq policy straight, and putting our nation's national security on track.

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