Lawmakers Demand Domestic Spying
Probe
Yahoo News/AP
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
December 18, 2005
WASHINGTON - Democrats and Republicans called separately Sunday for
congressional investigations into President Bush's decision after the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks to allow domestic eavesdropping without court
approval.
"The president has, I think, made up a law that we never passed," said Sen.
Russell Feingold, D-Wis.
Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Penn., chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, said he intends to hold hearings.
"They talk about constitutional authority," Specter said. "There are limits
as to what the president can do."
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada also called for an
investigation, and House Democratic leaders asked Speaker Dennis Hastert to
create a bipartisan panel to do the same.
Bush acknowledged Saturday that since October 2001 he has authorized the
National Security Agency to eavesdrop on international phone calls and e-mails
of people within the United States without seeking warrants from courts.
The New York Times disclosed the existence of the program last week. Bush
and other administration officials initially refused to discuss the
surveillance or their legal authority, citing security concerns.
Administration officials said congressional leaders had been briefed
regularly on the program. Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz.,
said there were no objections raised by lawmakers who were told about it.
"That's a legitimate part of the equation," McCain said on ABC's "This
Week." But he said Bush still needs to explain why he chose to ignore the law
that requires approval of a special court for domestic wiretaps.
Reid acknowledged he had been briefed on the four-year-old domestic spy
program "a couple months ago" but insisted the administration bears full
responsibility. Reid became Democratic leader in January.
"The president can't pass the buck on this one. This is his program," Reid
said on "Fox News Sunday." "He's commander in chief. But commander in chief
does not trump the Bill of Rights."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement Saturday
that she had been told on several occasions about unspecified activities by the
NSA. Pelosi said she expressed strong concerns at the time.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on "Fox News Sunday" that Bush "has
gone to great lengths to make certain that he is both living under his
obligations to protect Americans from another attack but also to protect their
civil liberties."
Several lawmakers weren't so sure. They pointed to a 1978 federal law, the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provides for domestic surveillance
under extreme situations, but only with court approval.
Specter said he wants Bush's advisers to cite their specific legal authority
for bypassing the courts. Bush said the attorney general and White House
counsel's office had affirmed the legality of his actions.
Appearing with Specter on CNN's "Late Edition," Feingold said Bush is
accountable for the program regardless of whether congressional leaders were
notified.
"It doesn't matter if you tell everybody in the whole country if it's
against the law," said Feingold, a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Bush said the program was narrowly designed and used in a manner "consistent
with U.S. law and the Constitution." He said it targets only international
communications of people inside the U.S. with "a clear link" to al-Qaida or
related terrorist organizations.
Government officials have refused to define the standards they're using to
establish such a link or to say how many people are being monitored.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., called that
troubling. If Bush is allowed to decide unilaterally who the potential
terrorists are, he becomes the court," Graham said on CBS's "Face the
Nation."
"We are at war, and I applaud the president for being aggressive," said
Graham, who also called for a congressional review. "But we cannot set aside
the rule of law in a time of war."
The existence of the NSA program surfaced as Bush was fighting to save the
expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, the domestic anti-terrorism law
enacted after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Renewal of the law has stalled over some its most contentious provisions,
including powers granted law enforcement to gain secret access to library and
medical records and other personal data during investigations of suspected
terrorist activity.
Democrats have urged Bush to support a brief extension of the law so that
changes could be made in the reauthorization, but Bush has refused, saying he
wants renewal now.
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