Sen Leahy Wants Nominees To Privacy Board

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is once again urging President Barack Obama to appoint members to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, which has been languishing since it was first created in 2004.

Chairman Leahy and Sen Arlen Specter (D-PA) first wrote President Obama last year urging him to move quickly to appoint new members to the board. The five-member board was recommended by the commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and was constituted in 2005. Sen Leahy worked in 2007 to revise the board, making it an independent panel and requiring its members be confirmed by the Senate. He also secured funding for the board last year. However, the Senate failed to confirm members nominated by then-President George W. Bush before the terms of its members expired in 2008.