Case Welcomes Federal Court Decision on NSA Surveillance

Case welcomes Federal Court Decision on NSA Surveillance

Honolulu, Hawaii - U.S. Congressman Ed Case (2nd District, Hawaii) welcomed the decision of a federal judge in Detroit who ruled today that the Bush administration's domestic surveillance program violated the constitutional protections of free speech and privacy and ordered the program to end at once.

"When news reports of the Bush-approved domestic surveillance program first surfaced in December 2005, I was extremely concerned that the program was not working within the legal framework established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)," said Case. "The fact that numerous senior administration officials familiar with the program claimed legal authority, but inexplicably refused to cite authority directly, raised many additional red flags."

"I fully agree that, in fighting the reality of terrorism in our post-9/11 world, we cannot any longer distinguish neatly in intelligence gathering between foreign and domestic, nor even between wartime and peacetime. The Bush administration, however, cannot operate outside the system of checks and balances as laid down by the framers of our Constitution."

In May 2006, it became evident that the domestic surveillance program was not limited to international communications and was far more expansive than the American public was led to believe. The National Security Agency (NSA) had been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans using data provided by AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth.

Case is a cosponsor of H.R.5371, the Lawful Intelligence and Surveillance of Terrorists in an Emergency by NSA (LISTEN) Act. H.R. 5371 makes clear that any attempt to listen in on Americans or collect telephone or e-mail records must be conducted in accordance with FISA or Title III of the criminal code. In both cases, court warrants based on probable cause are required. The LISTEN Act further states that FISA is the exclusive way to conduct electronic surveillance of U.S. persons on U.S. soil for intelligence purposes. It also states that provisions of the Joint Resolution providing for Authority for the Use of Force (P.L. 107-40) do not constitute authority to engage in electronic surveillance outside of FISA.

Case has also previously joined his colleagues in sending two Congressional joint letters of inquiry. The first, to NSA, requested a full accounting of its actions and an explanation of how any such surveillance was consistent with our U.S. Constitution and federal laws. The second, to the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, requested a full and expedited investigation on the program.

http://wwwc.house.gov/case/press_releases/2006/2006-32%20NSA%20Surveillance.html