"WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 — Lawmakers demanded more information on new rules for governing a domestic surveillance program on Thursday, a day after the Bush administration announced that it had placed the National Security Agency eavesdropping under court supervision.
Senators from both parties who had long criticized the eavesdropping without court warrants said at a Judiciary Committee hearing that they welcomed the change but wanted details. They said they wanted to be sure that the new rules adequately protected Americans’ privacy..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/washington/19justice.html
I think that this, along with the judicial review of this investigation process, should have happened a long time ago. I understand not making every detail of an investigation open to the public, but I can't imagine why we let leaders who supposedly work us keep entire programs completely under wraps from the people, and the judicial and legislative branches. Is the NSA really supposed to police themselves? Is there any reason to believe that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts, consisting of judges who have been hearing sensitive information and keeping it secret for years, may compromise national security? Or special commissions of congress, for that matter? Is there really any harm in letting the public know that a program exists, without divulging any specifics?
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