WYDEN DEMANDS
INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
FULLY INVESTIGATE NSA DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE
January 27, 2006
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following
statement regarding the delays in the Intelligence Committee’s efforts
to investigate the NSA domestic wiretapping program:
“The job of a congressional committee is to provide oversight, which
is why it is vital that the Intelligence Committee investigate the NSA
domestic surveillance program – it is our job. The committee has
a responsibility to get the full story about this program and determine
if the Administration in fact broke the law.
“While the investigation by the Judiciary Committee will examine
the legal and constitutional issues about the program, the Intelligence
Committee is the only committee that has the capability to find out, in
detail, what actually happened.
“I share the concerns of millions of Americans about whether this
program crosses the line between protecting our nation and spying indiscriminately
on law-abiding Americans.
“It is critical that the intelligence community has the necessary
tools they need to protect our country, but that need doesn't mean the
President and the Administration possess unlimited authority to invent
new interpretations of the law or simply break the law anytime they choose.
It is time for the committee leadership to step up and allow the Intelligence
Committee to do its job.”
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