Congress keeps itself, public in the dark on surveillance

CONGRESS KEEPS ITSELF, PUBLIC IN DARK ON SURVEILLANCE
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Editorial Staff]
[Commentary] With its wiretapping of international phone calls and collecting a database of domestic phone records, the Bush administration is busy watching for evildoers. Unfortunately, spying on those who pose a threat is not easily separated from spying on everyone else, and no one is watching the Bush administration with equal attentiveness. Despite lots of rhetoric, Congress has offered little to fulfill its duty to act as a check on the executive branch. Today, six months after The New York Times disclosed that the National Security Agency has been wiretapping international phone calls of U.S. residents without court orders, and one month after USA TODAY revealed that the NSA has been compiling a huge database of domestic phone records, Congress is poised for its first action. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider a bill by its chairman, Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that would consolidate a gaggle of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the warrantless wiretapping program. It would send the issue to a special court created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act(FISA), which approves — or in some rare instances denies — wiretap requests. Sen Specter's goals are admirable. He wants to ensure that challenges to these programs get their day in court and are not dismissed on technical grounds. But his measure would do more harm than good. It appears to embrace the president's dubious claim that he has the constitutional authority to order wiretaps without the FISA court's approval. By explicitly stating that the president might have such authority, Congress not only would fail to guard its constituents' privacy, it would also deepen the risk. Its actions could influence the court's thinking on the legality of the wiretaps.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060615/edit15.art.htm

* My bill would light the way
Commentary from Sen Arlen Specter
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060615/oppose15.art.htm