Dingell Joins with Members Calling for Investigations of President’s Domestic Spying Program - 12/22/05


Congressman John D. Dingell
Serving Michigan's 15th Congressional District

NEWS RELEASE	Contact:	Adam Benson or Michael Robbins
Thursday, December 22, 2005		202/225-4071
		202/271-8587

Dingell Joins with Members Calling for Investigations of President’s Domestic Spying Program Calls for Investigations by House Committee on Intelligence, Departments of Defense, Department of Justice and GAO
Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (MI-15) signed onto two requests asking for investigations into reports that the President authorized and the National Security Agency (NSA) engaged in domestic surveillance of United States citizens without obtaining court-ordered warrants. Mr. Dingell joined with 37 other Members of Congress requesting investigations by the Department of Defense, Department of Justice and the Government Accountability Office. The signers asked that the investigations be held immediately and that the findings be presented to Congress by January 31, 2006. He was also one of 33 Members who signed a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra (MI-02) and Ranking Member Jane Harman (CA-36) requesting oversight hearings into the decisions that led to the NSA’s actions. Below is the text from each letter: December 20, 2005 Thomas F. Gimble, Acting Inspector General United States Department of Defense c/o Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense Office of Communications and Congressional Liaison 400 Army Navy Drive Arlington, VA 22202-4704 Glenn A. Fine, Inspector General United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 4706 Washington, DC 20530-0001 David M. Walker Comptroller General U.S. Government Accountability Office 441 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20548 Dear Sirs: We, the undersigned Members of Congress, write to seek immediate investigations of reports that the Attorney General has authorized and that the National Security Agency (NSA) has engaged in espionage of persons inside the United States without obtaining court-ordered warrants authorizing these searches. The New York Times reports that since 2002 the NSA has monitored international telephone calls and email messages of hundreds and possibly thousands of people inside the United States without warrants.[i] According to this report, the NSA began conducting such domestic surveillance following a 2002 order by the President of the United States. Furthermore, the report states that, even according to its own officials, such domestic espionage is unprecedented in the NSA’s history. It is apparent that such domestic surveillance violates section 1802(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 50 U.S.C. § 1802(a). That law permits electronic surveillance of communications without a court order only if the Attorney General certifies that (1) these communications are exclusively between or among foreign powers; and (2) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party.[ii] According to the report in the New York Times, the NSA appears to have routinely violated these prohibitions by conducting surveillance on at least 500 and possibly thousands of individuals located in the United States, “including American citizens [and] permanent legal residents”[iii] who are United States persons within the meaning of FISA.[iv] We ask that you begin immediate investigations of these alleged violations of the law and misuse of appropriated funds by the Attorney General of the United States, the Director of the National Security Agency, and any of their subordinate officials. We ask that you be ready to brief us, the undersigned Members of Congress, on the results of your investigations no later than January 31, 2006. Signed by the following members of Congress: Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Brian Baird (D-WA), Howard Berman (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Lois Capps (D-CA), Julia Carson (D-IN), John Conyers (D-MI), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Diana DeGette (D-CO), John Dingell (D-MI), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Al Green (D-TX), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Michael Honda (D-CA), Jay Inslee (D-WA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Doris Matsui (D-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Martin Meehan (D-MA), George Miller (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Bobby Scott (D-VA), Adam Smith (D-WA), Ted Strickland (D-OH), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Mark Udall (D-CO), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) December 16, 2005
Honorable Peter Hoekstra, Chairman Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence H-405 U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515	Honorable Jane Harman, Ranking Member Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence H-405 U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member: We write today to ask that you conduct an oversight investigation into the reports made by the New York Times stating that the President Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to investigate American citizens without judicial approval. According to a Friday, December 16, 2005 New York Times article, the President directed the NSA, in 2002, to monitor the international communications of American citizens and others living in the United States. Prior to this Administration, the NSA was tasked with investigating foreign people and entities on foreign soil. However, since this order, hundreds, possibly thousands, of Americans have had their telephone calls and emails monitored with little to no oversight. These actions appear to have been conducted without any judicial oversight. If true, granting the NSA the authority to spy on American citizens without legal review is very troublesome. If truly warranted, these searches could have been accomplished by obtaining warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. However, in what has become a disturbing trend, the Administration, again, chose to bypass any and all entities that could restrain what they apparently believe should be unfettered power and authority. The Fourth Amendment clearly states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” We strongly believe that spying on American citizens clearly violates this bedrock principle of our government and our nation as a whole. Therefore, we respectfully request that the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence investigate this situation and work to ensure that it does not occur in the future. Thank you for you time and consideration. Signed by the following members of Congress: Tom Udall (D-CO), Lane Evans (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Dingell (D-MI), Adam Smith (D-WA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Martin Meehan (D-MA), Ron Kind (D-WI), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Michael Honda (D-CA), John Larson (D-CT), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), John Olver (D-MA), John Conyers (D-MI), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Thomas Allen (D-ME), Brian Baird (D-WA), Ed Case (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
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