American Freedom Agenda

The American Freedom Agenda (AFA) describes its purpose as being "the enactment of a cluster of statutes that would restore the Constitution’s checks and balances as enshrined by the Founding Fathers; and, making the subject a staple of political campaigns and of foremost concern to Members of Congress and to voters and educators." 

The Agenda
AFA "are taking a strong stand against a wide range of Bush policies - the warrantless wiretapping program, the use of presidential signing statements as de facto vetoes, extraordinary rendition, the use of torture, the military commissions act, and much more," Ed Brayton of ScienceBlogs wrote March 27, 2007.

AFA is also asking 2008 presidential candidates to sign the Freedom Pledge, in which they agree to
 * 1) No military commissions except on the battlefield.
 * 2) No evidence extracted by torture or coercion.
 * 3) No detaining citizens as unlawful enemy combatants.
 * 4) Restoring habeas corpus for suspected alien enemy combatants.
 * 5) Prohibiting warrantless spying by the National Security Agency in violation of law.
 * 6) Renouncing presidential signing statements.
 * 7) Ending secret government by invoking state secrets privilege.
 * 8) Stopping extraordinary renditions.
 * 9) Stopping threats to prosecuting journalists under the Espionage Act.
 * 10) Ending the listing of individuals or organizations as terrorists based on secret evidence.

Founders

 * Bob Barr, former Republican Representative from Georgia;
 * David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union;
 * Richard Viguerie, conservative author and direct-mail pioneer;
 * Bruce Fein, a principal at the PR firm the The Lichfield Group.

Contact Details
910 17th St., NW Suite 800 Washington, DC 20006 Website: http://www.americanfreedomagenda.org

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007
 * American Freedom Campaign
 * Ron Paul
 * establishing martial law in the United States
 * Patriot Act
 * Posse Comitatus Act
 * Unitary Executive Theory
 * war on terrorism

Statements by AFA

 * "America Freedom Agenda News Conference on Presidential Powers", C-Span, March 20, 2007. (Audio file accessed via this link)
 * "Bruce Fein, Former Justice Dept. Official, Reagan Administration", C-Span, March 20, 2007. (Audio file accessed via this link)
 * "Statement of Richard A. Viguerie for The American Freedom Agenda", PR-Inside, March 21, 2007.
 * Bruce Fein, "Sunshine on presidential pardons," Washington Times, April 3, 2007.

General Articles

 * Greg Pierce, "Inside Politics," Washington Times, March 19, 2007.
 * Greg Pierce, "Inside Politics," Washington Times, March 21, 2007.
 * Jim Malone, "Conservatives Press Bush on Civil Liberties," Voice of America News, March 21, 2007.
 * Bill Haymin, "Conservatives Challenge Presidential Power Grab, Demand Reforms to Restore Checks and Balances," American Chronicle, March 21, 2007.
 * Ted McKenna, "Conservative group campaigns against White House 'abuses'", PR Week, March 22, 2007.
 * "American Freedom Agenda" -Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; and Part 5 provided by Ron Paul, posted on YouTube March 23, 2007.
 * Nick Rivera, "American Freedom Agenda", The Moderate Voice, March 23, 2007.
 * Alex Koppelman, "Another conservative has a change of heart. Former Clinton inquisitor Bob Barr explains why he left the Republican Party and why he shouldn't have voted for the Patriot Act," Salon, April 4, 2007.
 * John Nichols, "Conservatives for the Constitution," The Nation, April 5, 2007.
 * Bruce McFarland, "Betrayed Conservatives Seek to Rebuild Post-Bush GOP," The Signal News (CA), April 10, 2007.
 * Adam Zagorin, "Conservatives to Bush: Fire Gonzales," TIME Magazine, April 16, 2007. re Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy