WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) joined colleagues in urging the inspectors general of the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct immediate investigations into reports of Administration-sanctioned domestic surveillance. The President has recently admitted to authorizing such surveillance without court orders over the past four years.
The Members have asked that these investigations be completed by the end of January 2006. Lowey issued the following statement on the recently disclosed policy:
“Since the attacks of September 11th, I have strongly supported aggressive government action to prevent and prepare for possible terrorist attacks. At the same time, I have always felt that we can win the war against terror without relinquishing our most fundamental rights.
“I am very disturbed by recent reports that the President authorized domestic surveillance of Americans outside the protections of the legal system. We need to have thorough investigations of this matter so that we can better understand the scope of this policy and its relation to U.S. laws.
“The American people need to know that the legal system is protecting them from improper infringements on their civil liberties. We must find out if any laws have been circumvented through this policy.”
