Earlier today Big Tent Democrat took to the front page of this site to ask Senator Chris Dodd to put a hold on legislation that would, among other things, extend the President's eavesdropping powers and grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications conglomerates that, apparently even before 9/11, allowed the Bush administration to spy on Americans without court order. Now, according to TPM's Greg Sargent, Dodd is obliging.

Senator Chris Dodd plans to put a hold on the Senate FISA renewal bill because it reportedly grants retroactive immunity to telephone companies for any role they played in the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program, Election Central has learned.

Dodd will send a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this afternoon informing him of his decision. Dodd also plans to put up a page today at his campaign Web site where opponents of the immunity provision can register their opposition.

"Later today Senator Dodd will be sending a letter to Majority Leader Reid informing him that he plans to put a `hold' on a bill that would provide for retroactive amnesty for telecom giants that were complicit in the Bush Administration's assault on the United States Constitution," Dodd spokesman Hari Sevugan told Election Central. "Senator Dodd said that he would do what he could do to stop this bill, and with this announcement he has again shown that he delivers results."

By doing this, Dodd can effectively hold up the telecom immunity bill, because bills are supposed to have unanimous consent in the Senate before going forward. One Senator can make it very difficult to bring a bill to the floor by objecting to allowing it to go to a vote.

That's what we call leadership, folks. It's one of the main reasons why I, like Markos, voted for Dodd in the last Daily Kos strawpoll (as did 7 percent of respondents). This is really great stuff. Now it's time for Dodd's colleagues, both those running for President and those not, to join him in this courageous act.

Update [2007-10-18 14:55:37 by Todd Beeton]: You can register your support for Dodd's hold of this bill at his website HERE.