Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ron
Wyden (D-Ore.) today hailed Senate passage of his legislation to
limit spending on the Defense Department's proposed "Total
Information Awareness" (TIA) program until Congress can review
privacy and civil liberties issues related to the plan. The TIA
program, overseen by Admiral John Poindexter, aims to develop technology
to collect information on the financial transactions, travel, medical
records and other activities of U.S. citizens in the U.S. Under
the Wyden Amendment, no funds may be obligated for the TIA program
unless the Attorney General, Secretary of Defense, and Director
of Central Intelligence provide a detailed report on their plans
within 60 days of the Wyden proposal becoming law.
"As originally proposed, the Total Information
Awareness program is the most far-reaching government surveillance
plan in history," said Wyden. "The Senate has now said
that this program will not be allowed to grow without tough Congressional
oversight and accountability, and that there will be checks on the
government's ability to snoop on law-abiding Americans."
The report required by the Wyden amendment
must contain:
an assessment of the likely impact of the implementation of TIA
on privacy and civil liberties;
a detailed explanation of the actual and intended
use of funds for each project and activity of TIA, including an
expenditure plan;
the schedule for proposed research and development
on each project;
technology and its transfer to other agencies;
assessment of the likelihood that TIA systems
will provide valuable evidence to predict the plans, intentions,
or capabilities of terrorists or terrorist groups
a list of the laws and regulations that govern
the information to be collected by TIA and any modifications to
such laws that will be required to use the information in the manner
proposed;
and recommendations by the Attorney General
for implementation of TIA that will minimize any adverse effects
TIA will have on privacy and other civil liberties.
Following the submission of the report, in order to deploy any technology
developed for the TIA Program or to transfer it to any other Federal
agency, the Secretary of Defense must notify Congress of any development
to be carried out for the program, including a specific description
of each element of such program to be deployed and method and scope
of the intended deployment. Congress must then pass new legislation
to authorize any deployment or implementation of technology developed
by the TIA program.
The Wyden amendment does contain a Presidential
waiver provision allowing spending to move forward if and only if
the President certifies that submitting such the report required
by the Wyden amendment is not possible, or that stopping research
and development for TIA would endanger national security. Even if
the President submits such a waiver, Congress must still give final
approval for any deployment or implementation of any technology
developed by TIA.
The Wyden amendment does not affect lawful
military operations of the United States conducted outside the country,
or lawful foreign intelligence activities conducted overseas or
against non-American citizens. The Wyden Amendment also states the
"sense of the Congress" that TIA should not be used to
develop technologies for use in conducting intelligence activities
or law enforcement activities against American citizens.
Co-sponsors of the Wyden amendment included
Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Tom Daschle
(D-S.D.), Joseph Biden (D-Del.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.),
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jon Corzine
(D-N.J.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt.), and Carl Levin (D-Mich.). Following final Senate
passage of the omnibus spending bill, to which this Wyden amendment
is now attached, the House and Senate will enter a conference to
agree on the final wording of the spending legislation. That agreement,
once approved by both chambers, will move to the President's desk
for his signature.
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