--- begin forwarded text Delivered-To: clips@philodox.com Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:15:08 -0500 To: Philodox Clips List <clips@philodox.com> From: "R. A. Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com> Subject: [Clips] Bush gets key backing on spy policy Reply-To: rah@philodox.com Sender: clips-bounces@philodox.com <http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/front/13445932.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp> Posted on Tue, Dec. 20, 2005? Intelligence chairman Roberts of Kansas says program 'consistent with U.S. law' Bush gets key backing on spy policy By MATT STEARNS The Star's Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON - The Bush administration found a key ally on Capitol Hill Monday as it broadened its aggressive defense of a recently revealed domestic spying program that used warrantless surveillance. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, "believes the program is consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution," Sarah Little, Roberts' spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. Roberts, in his first public remarks on the electronic surveillance program, indicated he has known about the program since he took over the committee in 2003. He said he believes the administration has taken proper safeguards to preserve Americans' civil liberties and is in talks with Senate leaders on what additional oversight steps Congress should take, Little said. "Senator Roberts believes that in a time of war, the president should have every lawful authority to protect the American people," Little said. The Kansas Republican's defense of the administration came just hours after President Bush lambasted critics of his domestic anti-terror policies at a White House news conference. Facing harsh bipartisan criticism in Congress over the surveillance program, and with renewal of his signature anti-terrorism law, the Patriot Act, stalled in the Senate, Bush said both are key tools in the war on terror. "We're doing the right thing," Bush asserted. Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, countered by calling the surveillance program "an outrageous power grab against the laws of the United States of America." Bush called public disclosure of the National Security Agency program "shameful the fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy." The program bypasses a secret court system that requires warrants for eavesdropping. "I just want to assure the American people that, one, I've got the authority to do this; two, it is a necessary part of my job to protect you; and, three, we're guarding your civil liberties," Bush said. The program began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Bush said Congress had been briefed "more than a dozen times on this program." Such briefings are classified, which means that even if a member of Congress disagrees with a policy, they can't disclose it. The briefings were limited to top congressional leadership and the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees. Sen. Kit Bond, a Missouri Republican who has been on the Senate Intelligence Committee since 2003, said he was not aware of the program. Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat on the committee, said he did not know about it, either. On Capitol Hill, Bush's defense did little to quell criticism, amid bipartisan calls for hearings to investigate the program. Democrats said they would not seek to halt the program until they gathered more information about it. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has criticized the program and vowed to hold hearings on it. Bush said public hearings would help terrorists by revealing U.S. strategy and tactics. Senate GOP leaders appear to agree with Bush; Majority Leader Bill Frist is said to prefer that any hearings be held by Roberts and the Intelligence Committee, and be closed. "Because of the nature of this subject, it needs to be kept close-held," Bond said in explaining why Roberts' committee would be a better venue than Specter's. Meanwhile, top administration officials sharpened their aggressive defense of the program. Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, the deputy national intelligence director and former NSA chief, credited the program with "detecting and preventing attacks inside the United States." "I can say, unequivocally that we have got information through this program that would not otherwise have been available," Hayden said at a White House briefing. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales sought to dampen congressional concerns that the program may be illegal. He said the program could only be used if one party on the call or e-mail was outside the United States, and if authorities had "a reasonable basis to conclude" that one of the parties was in some way affiliated with al-Qaida. In a 1972 case involving domestic security surveillance, the Supreme Court found such spying, without a warrant, violated the Fourth Amendment. Congress in 1978 established the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, known as FISA, a secret court through which covert spying warrants must be obtained. Gonzales conceded that the law requires warrants for the type of surveillance being done by the NSA. But he claimed Congress trumped that requirement by authorizing the use of force in the war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Although nowhere in that authorization is domestic surveillance contemplated, Gonzales said the administration interpreted it to include communication interception. "We believe signals intelligence is a fundamental incident of war, and we believe has been authorized by the Congress," Gonzales said. "And even though signals intelligence is not mentioned in the authorization to use force, we believe that the court would recognize the authorization by Congress to engage in this kind of electronic surveillance." Feingold, appearing on NBC's "Today Show," disputed that assertion. "Nobody, nobody, thought, when we passed the resolution to invade Afghanistan and to fight the war on terror, including myself, who voted for it, thought that this was an authorization to allow a wiretapping against the law of the United States," Feingold said. Gonzales also said the surveillance court would not work well in combating terrorism. "(FISA) doesn't provide the speed and the agility that we need in all circumstances to deal with this new kind of threat," Gonzales said. But Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, pointed out that FISA procedures seem designed to assist quick action by authorities. "These procedures are secret and they're retroactive," Reed said. Some pointed to last week's disclosure of the surveillance program as the reason opponents of the Patriot Act were able to block its renewal in the Senate. A group of senators has bottled up the bill because of civil liberties concerns. Aspects of the bill will expire in 12 days unless Congress acts. At his Monday news conference, Bush took aim at those opponents, implying they were jeopardizing the security of American citizens. "It is inexcusable for the United States Senate to let this Patriot Act expire I want senators from New York or Los Angeles or Las Vegas to go home and explain why these cities are safer," without the Patriot Act, Bush said. "In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment," Bush said. But opponents indicated no willingness to cave either on Patriot Act renewal or on demands to investigate the surveillance program, as they pushed back against the broad executive powers claimed by the administration. "He is the president, not a king," Feingold said. "If the president is asserting a doctrine that he can do anything to protect the American people without the basis of law, we need to know what those things are, and we need to talk about it." -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' _______________________________________________ Clips mailing list Clips@philodox.com http://www.philodox.com/mailman/listinfo/clips --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'