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Bush tries to quell NSA furor
[May 12, 2006]

Bush tries to quell NSA furor


(Sacramento Bee, The (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 12--WASHINGTON -- New disclosures of a secret government initiative to track domestic phone calls unleashed a furor on Capitol Hill on Thursday and compelled President Bush to assure Americans that their privacy is being protected in the hunt for terrorists.



The government's collection of the records of billions of phone calls from three major telecommunications firms, reported Thursday by USA Today, stunned an administration still on the defensive over Bush's nomination of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden as CIA director.

"We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans," Bush said in brief, hastily scheduled remarks before leaving to deliver a graduation address at a Mississippi community college. "Our efforts are focused on links to al-Qaida and their known affiliates. So far, we've been very successful in preventing another attack on our soil."


Bush added: "The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval."

Bush and his aides did not confirm or deny the report that the government has obtained the phone records, enabling the National Security Agency to compile a massive database it could search for patterns or ties to suspicious contacts.

The government's payments to AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth for the domestic phone records came to light almost five months after the New York Times reported that the NSA was monitoring calls between people in the United States and overseas.

Hayden ran the foreign surveillance program as NSA head until April 2005, when he took over as the government's deputy director of intelligence. His nomination to lead the CIA reignited debate over the electronic eavesdropping, and the new disclosures of a separate domestic spying program further fueled the controversy.

AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth handle at least 70 percent of U.S. phone traffic, with more than 200 million customers. All three phone giants released statements saying they are committed to protecting their customers' privacy and have not violated any laws.

Denver-based Qwest, with 14 million customers, declined to provide its records to the government, USA Today reported.

"The government has no interest in knowing what innocent Americans are talking about on their domestic phone calls," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters on Air Force One as they accompanied Bush to Mississippi. "The government is interested in finding out if al-Qaida is planning an attack in America."

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., criticized disclosure of the program.

"We are in a war, and we've got to collect intelligence on the enemy, and you can't tell the enemy in advance how you are going to do it," Kyl said.

But lawmakers from both parties questioned whether tracking domestic phone records was helpful or necessary in the country's post-Sept. 11 response to radical Islamic terrorism.

"The idea of collecting millions or thousands of phone numbers -- how does that fit into following the enemy?" Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked in a Fox News interview.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, held up a copy of USA Today during a meeting of the panel.

"Shame on us for being so far behind, and being so willing to rubber-stamp anything this administration does," Leahy said. "The Republican-controlled Congress refuses to ask questions, and so we have to pick up the paper to find out what is going on."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., defended Bush.

"I strongly agree with the president of the United States that our ultimate responsibility is the safety and security of the American people," Frist said.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would summon officers of AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth to testify.

"When we can't find out from the Department of Justice or other administration officials, we're going to call on those telephone companies to provide information to try to figure out exactly what is going on," he said.

The Bush administration has friendly ties to two of the phone companies that cooperated with the NSA.

James Cicconi, AT&T's senior vice president for legislative affairs, served for two years as White House deputy chief of staff for the first President Bush. William Barr, Verizon's general counsel, was attorney general under the elder Bush.

"Americans are alarmed ... because this administration continues to operate parts of the NSA program in violation of FISA and the Fourth Amendment," said California Rep. Jane Harman of Venice, senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1979, which established a secret 11-judge court to rule on warrant requests from the Justice Department to conduct wiretaps on overseas communications. Bush bypassed the court in authorizing the electronic eavesdropping soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Hayden's nomination to head the CIA has come under fire both because he is an active-duty general and because he played a central role in the post-Sept. 11 domestic surveillance.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had praised Hayden earlier in the week. But she said Thursday that the new disclosures of a more expansive NSA role under his command could harm his nomination.

"I believe we are on our way to a major constitutional confrontation on Fourth Amendment guarantees of unreasonable search and seizure," Feinstein said. "I think this is also going to present a growing impediment to the confirmation of General Hayden. And that is very regretted."

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