REP. ANDREWS CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO WARRANTLESS WIRETAPS AUTHORIZED BY THE PRESIDENT

I call for an immediate investigation into wiretaps authorized by President Bush, and carried out by the National Security Agency (NSA), which intercepted communications of people in the US “with known links” to terror groups without obtaining a warrant. I join House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in voicing concern that the executive branch of our government has bypassed the courts and overstepped its legal authority.

As a member of the House Armed Service Committee, I fully understand that accurate intelligence is vital to winning the war against global terror, but intelligence must be obtained in a manner consistent with our Constitution, laws, and values. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court has been set up to privately and easily grant the executive branch warrants to conduct such wiretaps. The President has not offered a justification as to why he neglected to use this special court to obtain legal authority. Congress must hold hearings regarding this wiretap program and investigate what actionable intelligence was gathered which the Court would not have warranted. No one in the United States is above or below the law, including the President.   

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