Senators Object to Wiretapping Deal with White House

SENATORS OBJECT TO WIRETAPPING DEAL WITH WHITE HOUSE

Senators Feingold, Durbin, and Salazar Say Specter Bill Goes Too Far

September 25, 2006

Washington D.C. - Following the announcement from three Republican Senators today of an agreement they reached with the administration on wiretapping provisions of Senator Specter's NSA bill, Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Ken Salazar (D-CO) released the following statement:

"Democrats support wiretapping terrorists, and common sense reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) deserve consideration. But Senator Specter's bill simply goes too far -- it attempts to legalize the President's illegal warrantless wiretapping program, guts the FISA statute and abdicates Congress's role as a check on the Executive branch.

Sadly, today's so-called compromise does not change any of these troublesome excesses.

Despite claims to the contrary, the bill would still allow warrantless spying on Americans on American soil by authorizing so-called "program" warrants and making review by the FISA court optional. And while language was deleted regarding the President's authority as Commander in Chief, the bill would still delete the provision of FISA that makes it the "exclusive means" for wiretapping. Ultimately, the legislation would still ratify an unlawful surveillance program.

While we appreciate our colleagues' efforts, we still have grave concerns about the bill. Fighting terrorism effectively and protecting the privacy of innocent Americans are too important to be debated during a brief floor period before an election."

http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/06/09/20060925wiretap.html