House Committee Demands Information On NSA Surveillance

WASHINGTON — A House committee unanimously approved a Democratic measure Wednesday that would require the Bush administration to turn over detailed information to Congress about the National Security Agency's massive phone record collection program.

The resolution marks the first bipartisan approval for an inquiry into the controversial NSA program, which reportedly collected the phone records of tens of millions of Americans in an effort to track terrorists.

"Today, the House finally spoke up," said Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., who introduced the resolution last month after USA Today first revealed the databank's existence. The NSA collected phone records of Americans from AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon, according to the newspaper.

The telephone companies have since been sued in federal court for $200 billion for alleged violations of privacy and telecommunications law. BellSouth and Verizon have denied providing information to the agency.

The swift passage of the resolution, by voice vote in the often partisan Judiciary Committee, "speaks to the gravity of the concern in Congress regarding the Bush administration's misuse of domestic surveillance on ordinary Americans," said Wexler.

The notion that the NSA is capturing the phone records of so many Americans is the equivalent of spying on Americans, Wexler said.

"These are warrantless searches upon tens of millions of Americans to find out what their telephone habits are, who they are calling, what time of day they are calling," Wexler said. "What business does the federal government have knowing this information?"

It is up to Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., to decide if and when the measure will be brought to the full House for a vote. Sensenbrenner said he hoped the resolution's passage out of the committee would signal to the Bush administration how serious he is about obtaining information about the NSA's domestic surveillance programs.

The Judiciary Committee requested information from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on April 6 about a different NSA surveillance program. In that program, first disclosed by The New York Times, the president authorized the agency to eavesdrop on certain overseas calls between suspected terrorists and their contacts in America.

"I and many other committee members expressed concerns about the Justice Department's cooperation in providing the committee information," Sensenbrenner said in a statement.

More than three months later, the Justice Department has failed to fully respond to those questions, he said.

The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the administration has not confirmed or denied the USA Today story so has no comment. She reiterated that appropriate members of Congress are briefed on all intelligence activities related to terrorism.

The resolution asks the administration to show how it obtained the phone records from the telephone companies.

"Did they pressure the companies? Exercise undo influence?" Wexler asked. "The Congress needs to know the type of tactics the Bush administration is using while surveilling and spying on tens of millions of Americans," Wexler said.

Wexler said the program violates the Constitution by allowing surveillance without a warrant approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court, a highly secret court that grants permission to eavesdrop on suspected spies and terrorists.

But not every Democrat found comity Wednesday. A Democratic resolution failed that would have uncovered why the Justice Department was blocked from looking into the NSA's eavesdropping program.

"Republicans in Congress have once again failed in their oversight responsibilities," said Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., who introduced the measure.

The Judiciary Committee's approval of Wexler's resolution comes on the heels of a 207 - 219 vote House vote that narrowly rejected an amendment that would have removed all funding for the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program. Twenty-three Republicans broke with the administration to back the amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the Judiciary panel's vote.

"Americans deserve a government that is bound by the rule of law," said Gregory T. Nojeim, associate director of the ACLU's Washington office. "The administration has stonewalled Congress about these programs, and today, the Judiciary Committee laid down a marker. We hope that today's vote is but the first of many steps Congress will take to rein in this massive abuse of power."

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