Leading Conservatives Call for Extensive Hearings on NSA Surveillance

[kpete]

Leading Conservatives Call for Extensive Hearings on NSA Surveillance; Checks on Invasive Federal Powers Essential

1/17/2006 6:36:00 PM


Contact: Laura Brinker, 202-715-1540, for Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, [e-mail]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances (PRCB) today called upon Congress to hold open, substantive oversight hearings examining the President's authorization of the National Security Agency (NSA) to violate domestic surveillance requirements outlined in the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, chairman of PRCB, was joined by fellow conservatives Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR); David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union; Paul Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, in urging lawmakers to use NSA hearings to establish a solid foundation for restoring much needed constitutional checks and balances to intelligence law.

"When the Patriot Act was passed shortly after 9-11, the federal government was granted expanded access to Americans' private information," said Barr. "However, federal law still clearly states that intelligence agents must have a court order to conduct electronic surveillance of Americans on these shores. Yet the federal government overstepped the protections of the Constitution and the plain language of FISA to eavesdrop on Americans' private communication without any judicial checks and without proof that they are involved in terrorism."

The following can be attributed to PRCB members:

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=59381

[babylonsister]

1. Grover Norquist? "Hey, lookee over here!"

No, Grover, I'll be spending lots of time watching you go down with all the other repug rats on the ship.
See Norquist's involvement; pass mouse over mugs:
http://www.dccc.org/houseofscandal/main.html

Otherwise, the more the merrier!

[tularetom]

2. I think you can read quite a bit into this

and I believe it is because they're truly afraid that a Dem will be in the white house after 08 and these repressive tactics will be turned on them.

[Carni]

3. GROVER NORQUIST? Ok what's up with this?

That makes NO SENSE--I think this deal is rigged.

[MasonJar]

4. Norquist is the top scum of all. Anything he is involved in is defin-

itely cruel and inhumane to the majority of the world.

[Toots]

5. Al Gore met with all of these men a little over a week ago

It was billed as a meeting to discuss Global Climate Change and I remember Al Gore saying the meeting went off very well. I was surprised at the time but now I find this even more surprising. There has been a rift among the neocons and there may be real fireworks... How Al Gore got involved I can't figure except he has street cred amongst the people where those neocons don't. Ganging up they may just create some waves...