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From: www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs...&t=TS_Home
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U.S. secretly collecting phone records
New CIA director formerly oversaw program at NSA
May 11, 2006. 01:15 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans and Democrats demanded answers from the U.S. administration today about a government spy agency secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans’ phone calls to build a database of every call made within the country.
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President George W. Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being “fiercely protected.â€
“We’re not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans,†Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
The disclosure, first reported in USA Today, could complicate Bush’s bid to win confirmation of former National Security Agency director Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA director. It also reignited concerns about civil liberties and touched off questions about the legal underpinnings for the government’s actions and the diligence of congressional oversight.
The top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he was shocked by the revelation about the NSA.
“It is our government, it’s not one party’s government. It’s America’s government. Those entrusted with great power have a duty to answer to Americans what they are doing,†said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and BellSouth Corp. telephone companies began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers’ phone calls to the NSA program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said USA Today, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said he would call the phone companies to appear before the panel in pursuit of what had transpired.
“We’re really flying blind on the subject and that’s not a good way to approach the Fourth Amendment and the constitutional issues involving privacy,†Specter said of domestic surveillance in general.
The companies said today that they are protecting customers’ privacy but have an obligation to assist law enforcement and government agencies in ensuring the nation’s security. “We prize the trust our customers place in us. If and when AT&T is asked to help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions,†the company said in a statement, echoed by the others.
Bush did not confirm or deny the USA Today report. But he did say that U.S. intelligence targets terrorists and that the government does not listen to domestic telephone calls without court approval and that Congress has been briefed on intelligence programs.
He vowed to do everything in his power to fight terror and “we will do so within the laws of our country.â€
On Capitol Hill, several legislators expressed incredulity about the program, with some Republicans questioning the rationale and several Democrats railing about the lack of congressional oversight.
“I don’t know enough about the details except that I am willing to find out because I’m not sure why it would be necessary to keep and have that kind of information,†said House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.)
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) argued that the program “is not a warrantless wiretapping of the American people. I don’t think this action is nearly as troublesome as being made out here, because they are not tapping our phones.â€
The program does not involve listening to or taping the calls. Instead it documents who talks to whom in personal and business calls, whether local or long distance, by tracking which numbers are called, the newspaper said.
The NSA and the Office of National Intelligence Director did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NSA is the same spy agency that conducts the controversial domestic eavesdropping program that had been acknowledged earlier by Bush. The president said last year that he authorized the NSA to listen, without warrants, to international phone calls involving Americans suspected of terrorist links.
The report came as Hayden, Bush’s choice to take over leadership of the CIA, postponed some visits to legislators on Capitol Hill. Meetings with Republican Senators Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were delayed at the request of the White House, said congressional aides in the two Senate offices.
The White House offered no reason for the postponement to the legislators. Other meetings with legislators were still planned.
____________________________
U.S. secretly collecting phone records
New CIA director formerly oversaw program at NSA
May 11, 2006. 01:15 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans and Democrats demanded answers from the U.S. administration today about a government spy agency secretly collecting records of ordinary Americans’ phone calls to build a database of every call made within the country.
Facing intense criticism from Congress, President George W. Bush did not confirm the work of the National Security Agency but sought to assure Americans that their privacy is being “fiercely protected.â€
“We’re not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans,†Bush said before leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi.
The disclosure, first reported in USA Today, could complicate Bush’s bid to win confirmation of former National Security Agency director Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA director. It also reignited concerns about civil liberties and touched off questions about the legal underpinnings for the government’s actions and the diligence of congressional oversight.
The top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said he was shocked by the revelation about the NSA.
“It is our government, it’s not one party’s government. It’s America’s government. Those entrusted with great power have a duty to answer to Americans what they are doing,†said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., and BellSouth Corp. telephone companies began turning over records of tens of millions of their customers’ phone calls to the NSA program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said USA Today, citing anonymous sources it said had direct knowledge of the arrangement.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said he would call the phone companies to appear before the panel in pursuit of what had transpired.
“We’re really flying blind on the subject and that’s not a good way to approach the Fourth Amendment and the constitutional issues involving privacy,†Specter said of domestic surveillance in general.
The companies said today that they are protecting customers’ privacy but have an obligation to assist law enforcement and government agencies in ensuring the nation’s security. “We prize the trust our customers place in us. If and when AT&T is asked to help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions,†the company said in a statement, echoed by the others.
Bush did not confirm or deny the USA Today report. But he did say that U.S. intelligence targets terrorists and that the government does not listen to domestic telephone calls without court approval and that Congress has been briefed on intelligence programs.
He vowed to do everything in his power to fight terror and “we will do so within the laws of our country.â€
On Capitol Hill, several legislators expressed incredulity about the program, with some Republicans questioning the rationale and several Democrats railing about the lack of congressional oversight.
“I don’t know enough about the details except that I am willing to find out because I’m not sure why it would be necessary to keep and have that kind of information,†said House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.)
Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) argued that the program “is not a warrantless wiretapping of the American people. I don’t think this action is nearly as troublesome as being made out here, because they are not tapping our phones.â€
The program does not involve listening to or taping the calls. Instead it documents who talks to whom in personal and business calls, whether local or long distance, by tracking which numbers are called, the newspaper said.
The NSA and the Office of National Intelligence Director did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
NSA is the same spy agency that conducts the controversial domestic eavesdropping program that had been acknowledged earlier by Bush. The president said last year that he authorized the NSA to listen, without warrants, to international phone calls involving Americans suspected of terrorist links.
The report came as Hayden, Bush’s choice to take over leadership of the CIA, postponed some visits to legislators on Capitol Hill. Meetings with Republican Senators Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were delayed at the request of the White House, said congressional aides in the two Senate offices.
The White House offered no reason for the postponement to the legislators. Other meetings with legislators were still planned.