Congress Demands Phone Records Answers

[CountAllVotes]

By LAURIE KELLMAN and DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press Writer
19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers demanded answers from the Bush administration Thursday about a spy agency secretly collecting records of millions of ordinary Americans' phone calls to build a database of all calls within the country.

Facing mounting congressional criticism, President Bush sought to assure Americans that their civil liberties were "fiercely protected."

"The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval," said Bush, without confirming the program of the National Security Agency. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."

<snip>

In January, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based group devoted to preserving privacy in digital media, alleged in a federal lawsuit that AT&T Inc. had given the NSA direct access to the records of the more than 300 million domestic and international calls and the huge volume of Internet data traffic. AT&T Inc. includes the AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications Inc.

more:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/nsa_phone_records;_ylt=Al0reTa7nXavnmr8JN8W1ous0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

:dem:

[Elidor]

1. More brazen lies from the chimp

And as for his poll numbers? We're going down into the 20's with this latest shit! :bounce:

Fucking criminal assholes.

[ShockediSay]

17. King George: What Bill of Rights? We are at war!

with the Bill of Rights!!

Anyway, the Polls say that the majority of Americans just don't believe anything this guy says.

[aquart]

2. "Congressional criticism."

Does that come on a rubber stamp?

[CountAllVotes]

3. I wrote both of my Senators today

And I told them to get off of their rear ends and DO SOMETHING!!!

I bet a lot of other people have done the same.

Likely, the "Capitol Switchboards" are jammed more than likely!

Keep it up folks! We are demanding answers as we must do as Americans.

:patriot: Protect the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution!

On edit: 300 million people is a hell of a lot !!

:kick:

[aquart]

8. I emailed mine.

I assume NSA has a record of that, too. So they are able to track calls I make to my senators and other representatives. Which gives them the opportunity to label me as politically active. Do I really want them to know that?

[CountAllVotes]

4. NSA secret database report triggers fierce debate in Washington

Updated 5/11/2006 7:04 PM ET
By Susan Page, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — A fierce debate erupted Thursday over the legality and appropriateness of a massive secret database built by the National Security Agency that contains the phone records of tens of millions of Americans.
USA TODAY reported that the NSA has been collecting data from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth since the Sept. 11 attacks to search for patterns that might help identify terrorist networks. NSA collected records from landlines and cellphones at homes, businesses and government offices across the country, including calls by individuals not suspected of wrongdoing.

At the White House, President Bush said the administration acted within the law and "fiercely protected" Americans' privacy while doing everything possible to prevent terrorist attacks. "Al-Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans," he said. "We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans." He didn't address specifics of the program and walked away without responding to reporters' questions.

At the White House, President Bush said the administration acted within the law and "fiercely protected" Americans' privacy while doing everything possible to prevent terrorist attacks. "Al-Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans," he said. "We are not mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans." He didn't address specifics of the program and walked away without responding to reporters' questions.

On Capitol Hill, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy expressed outrage. "Are you telling me tens of millions of Americans are involved with al-Qaeda?" said Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. "These are tens of millions of Americans who are not suspected of anything."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-11-nsa-reax_x.htm?csp=24

On edit: You might want to check-out the Senator Leahy video!

http://usatoday.feedroom.com/ifr_main.jsp?nsid=a3b99bbc2:10b259413c8:-1701&fr_story=FEEDROOM143296&st=1147389619265&mp=WMP&cpf=true&fr=051106_072023_3b99bbc2x10b259413c8xw1700&rdm=644060.0966938152


:dem:

[C_U_L8R]

5. As Bushies numbers go into the dumper

I bet he sets the record this week

[Rufus T. Firefly]

7. I'm picking 25%.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

6. The debate which should have occured before USA PATRIOT.

Or when the NSA wiretaps were revealed.

Or the CIA overseas torture prisons.

Or...

[aquart]

9. Void the Patriot Act. Now.

[midnight]

15. This among other reasons

should have that act burned in public, and the rights to our privacy enforced.

[brentspeak]

10. Reach out... and listen in on someone

"The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval," said Bush.

Uh, yeah. Sure. That's why there've been some people held at Gitmo who weren't even formally charged or allowed to speak to a lawyer.

[IndianaGreen]

11. Russ Feingold on Massive NSA Database of Americans' Phone Calls

Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the Reported Massive NSA Database of Americans' Phone Calls

May 11, 2006

Listen to my statement

This Administration’s arrogance and abuse of power should concern all Americans. That the government may be secretly collecting, and using data mining to analyze, the phone records of millions of law-abiding Americans, as reported in the press today, is a frightening prospect. I am unaware of this program, and Congress needs to find out exactly what the Administration is doing and whether it is legal. It is time for the Administration to come clean with Congress and the American people. We can effectively fight terrorism and protect privacy, the rule of law, and separation of powers, but only if we have a President who believes in these principles.

http://www.senate.gov/~feingold/statements/06/05/20060511NSA.html

[henslee]

12. President Feingold nails it.

[B3Nut]

18. President Feingold has a spine

unlike the Cadre of Castratti Chihuahuas(tm) masquerading as Dems. C'mon dammit, stand up!

Todd in Beerbratistan

[fshrink]

13. The Congress and everybody else so far

will shut up and play nice. That's how dictators have always achieved power: lack of clear opposition, erroneous belief in the potential opposition that this could not really be happening.

[dweller]

14. 300 million?

and they've caught how many terra-ists?





didn't think so.
dp

[gratuitous]

16. Oh, well! If Congress demanded it . . .

I'm sure the corrupt Bush administration will fall all over itself rushing to comply with Congress' demands. Here's the artist's rendering of that happening:

:rofl:

How about convening some fucking hearings and sending a few subpoenas to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, you bunch of impotent dorks?!