Advocacy groups
organize against
surveillance bills
Grant Gross,
computerworld.com from the Web, September 7, 2006
A civil liberties group and other
advocacy organizations are urging supporters to contact the U.S. Congress as it
moves ahead to approve an electronic surveillance program run through the U.S.
National Security Agency (NSA).
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, the First Amendment Foundation
and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are among the groups
encouraging voters to voice opposition to two bills that would authorize the NSA
program. Both bills are scheduled to be considered by the Senate Judiciary
Committee tomorrow morning.
Opponents say the program, reportedly used to spy on U.S. residents as well as
foreigners, is illegal because the NSA has conducted surveillance without
court-approved warrants. Officials in U.S. President George Bush's
administration and some congressional Republicans contend that the program is
legal and limited in scope.
"This is an unprecedented expansion of government surveillance," said Kevin
Bankston, a staff attorney at the EFF, which is spearheading a lawsuit against
AT&T Inc. for allegedly participating in the NSA program. "We've
encountered the ultimate nightmare scenario as far as electronic privacy is
concerned -- an unchecked executive branch."
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the program in August, calling
it effective and legal. "It is a very narrow program ... focused on
communications with al Qaeda where one end of the phone call [or] communication
is foreign, outside of the United States," he said in a press conference.
"It has been reviewed by a number of lawyers within the administration,
including lawyers out at the NSA, including lawyers at the Department of
Justice."
Numerous U.S. intelligence officials have said the program is effective in
tracking terrorist activity, Gonzales added. The legislation in Congress
to authorize the program isn't necessary, but the Bush administration is working
with bill sponsors, he said.
Both Judiciary Committee bills would establish congressional oversight for
terrorist surveillance programs conducted by the NSA or other government
agencies. One bill, sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania
Republican and Judiciary Committee chairman, would largely give the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court jurisdiction for any terrorist surveillance
programs. The court would have to approve new surveillance programs, as it
has for past U.S. government surveillance operations.
The second bill, sponsored by Ohio Republican Senator Mike DeWine, would allow
the U.S. president to authorize surveillance programs for up to 45 days without
a court order. The U.S. attorney general can then review the program and
continue it for another 45 days without a court order.
The DeWine bill requires that the president report the programs to congressional
subcommittees, but it also allows a 15-year prison sentence and a $1 million
fine to anyone who leaks the details of secret surveillance programs.
DeWine, in an August statement, called the NSA program a "critical tool to
prevent America from being attacked."
The DeWine bill would retroactively approve the NSA program, while the Specter
bill would not, Bankston said. Lawsuits targeting the program, now moving
forward in Michigan and California, could be stalled if Congress passes a
retroactive bill, he said. "Let's let the courts finish the job," he
added.
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