Since when havepower-hungry careerpoliticians deservedour absolute trust?
Sen. Rockefeller Asks: Who’s Protecting Americans From Their “Protectors”?By Cliff MontgomerySen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has long been recognized as a voice of reason during these partisan times. Sen. Rockefeller is one of our representatives most upset by the Bush Administration’s acts of spying on ordinary citizens without a court order “for our protection.”Unlike most, the senator has both the guts and the intelligence to ask the obvious question about such an arrangement: Who’s protecting us from our “protectors”?Below are major portions of a speech Sen. Rockefeller gave to the Senate on September 13th, 2006. It discusses the inherent dangers to our democracy posed by the spying activities–euphemistically called “warrentless surveillance“–of our so-called National Security Agency (NSA): “Mr. President, the National Security Agency has been wiretapping the conversations of Americans without obtaining court orders, as required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, for the past 5 years.”In recent months, a number of bills have been proposed which would codify the President’s program of warrantless surveillance. The White House is now pushing the Senate Judiciary Committee to pass sweeping legislation that would amend FISA and grant the President unprecedented authority to undertake wiretapping in the United States without thejudicial scrutiny currently required by law.”For Congress to legislate on this program in the coming days would not only be premature but irresponsible. The fact remains that despite repeated assurances from the administration, members of Congress remain in the dark and cannot answer fundamental questions about the program’s existence, effectiveness or legal justification.”As one of the few members who has received the most detailed information to date, I can tell you that–putting aside the legal argument–the administration has not been able to document convincingly the counterterrorism benefits of the program.”In fact for the past 6 months, I have been requesting, without success, specific details about the program including how many terrorists have been identified, how many arrested, how many convicted, and how many terrorists have been deported or killed as a direct result of information obtained through the warrantless wiretapping program.”I can assure you, not one person in Congress has the answers to these fundamental questions.”At the same time–let me be perfectly clear–I support all efforts to track down terrorists wherever they are, using all of our best technology and resources. But it can and must be done legally and in a way that protects the rights of all Americans.”For 4 1/2 years, the President had restricted knowledge of this program to the top leaders of the Senate and House and the two top leaders on the congressional Intelligence Committees.”By limiting the briefings to 2 of the 15 Intelligence Committee members, the White House had sought to prevent the committee from conducting the legally required oversight of the NSA program.”Because of this restriction on access to the program, the committee has been effectively prevented from knowing about the program, evaluating the program, and acting on the program.”Frankly, I believe the White House goal of the past 5 years has been to use the iron cloak of secrecy to keep Congress ignorant of and powerless to challenge a controversial program of suspect legality.”The repeated representations by the President and senior administration officials that the warrantless wiretapping program was and is subject to extensive congressional oversight are simply outrageous.”The full Senate, not individual Senators, takes action to approve or reject this legislation.”The White House wanted a warrantless wiretapping program that was exempt from the scrutiny of both the courts and the Congress, even if it meant ignoring the legal requirements of FISA and the National Security Acts and shattering what had been decades of responsible, bipartisan congressional oversight of intelligence programs. Why?”Administration officials have stated that the fact that the NSA was collecting the communications of suspected terrorists coming in or out of the United States without a court’s determination that probable cause existed was simply too sensitive to disclose to the other members of Congress–intimating that the congressional Intelligence Committeescould not keep aspects of the program classified.”I would remind this administration that the Intelligence Committee is entrusted on a daily basis with secrets that, if disclosed, would irreparably harm our national security, compromise multi-billion-dollar collection programs, and even get people killed.”All Senators, by right of their elected position and the duties they are sworn to carry out, have access to the details of these highly classified collection programs.”I want my colleagues to consider the implications of [the NSA intelligence collection program] carefully. “At a time when terrorism is the No. 1 threat to America‘s security, the White House has decided that Congress cannot be trusted with the job of protecting our citizens.”Instead of working with Congress, the President decided with an almost imperial disdain to ignore the constitutional role the legislative branch plays in providing for the National defense.”
