Rep. Lofgren Calls Hearing “Lost Opportunity” for NSA Eavesdropping Investigation
Media Contact: Kyra Jennings, 202.225.3072, kyra.jennings@mail.house.gov
— Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), Ranking Member on the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment, delivered the following opening statement today at the hearing, “Protection of Privacy: DHS Intelligence Enterprise”:
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome, Ms. Cooney, Mr. Herath, and Mr. Turley. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate being recognized to make this statement. Our topic is privacy rights. The elephant in the room is the issue of the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program. NSA eavesdropping is an important issue for this Subcommittee to address under its oversight responsibilities over intelligence and information sharing techniques.
“The Bush Administration has failed repeatedly to give Congress meaningful answers about this eavesdropping program, and the Congress so far has failed to hold it accountable through oversight. The Administration seems unwilling to provide Congress with the information it needs to conduct its proper oversight role.
“I have tried to secure information about this warrantless eavesdropping program. I have asked the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice to investigate this program but they have declined. I asked President Bush to direct that a special counsel be appointed to investigate this program. He has not answered the letter but through his Press Secretary declined.
“To date, press reports are all of the information about this program that Members of Congress and the public have. Congress should not accept this.
“One serious question about this warrantless eavesdropping program is whether it complies with the law. This Subcommittee should get an answer to that question.
“Whenever possible, it is important to work in a bipartisan fashion. Indeed, two weeks ago the Chairman and I produced legislation jointly and I think set a land speed record for a subcommittee mark-up. It’s not comfortable or enjoyable to be critical when you sit next to somebody on a frequent basis and hope to work with them. But the hope for comity can never be an excuse for ducking the need to take action.
“As the ranking member, I cannot and do not control the agenda of our subcommittee. The Chairman sets the agenda. I have sought to have this committee discharge its oversight responsibility in the matter of the NSA through written requests by staff, written requests by myself as well as personal conversations. But these efforts resulted in today’s hearing that will not serve as the needed oversight of the NSA warrantless surveillance program.
“I tried to secure a witness from the NSA to testify today, and as a part of the record I ask unanimous consent to place material about this in the record of this hearing.
“I appreciate that Professor Turley is here today to testify about the NSA eavesdropping program. I thank him for his testimony, which I’ve reviewed. His observations about the Administration’s legal claims in support of this program are important and his view that the Administration’s legal claims present risks not only for our intelligence-gathering process but also for our constitutional separation of powers are significant. While I’m thankful to have Professor Turley’s testimony, Congress needs to hear more than legal arguments from scholars about this program. We need to do our oversight job and find out what is actually going on by calling the witnesses who have direct knowledge of what the government is actually doing.
“There is only one Intelligence Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee and we are it. We cannot get thorough information on this NSA eavesdropping program without a government witness with firsthand knowledge about it. So today is a lost opportunity for this subcommittee. But today, actually right now, the Attorney General of the United States is testifying before the Judiciary Committee. The Attorney General knows all about the NSA program and is in a position to answer questions about it. I don’t know if he will, but the opportunity to question him about what he knows about the NSA program is a far sight more promising than what we have allowed this hearing to be. So, I will excuse myself now to see whether the Attorney General will permit the Congress to discharge its oversight obligations with regrets that the structure of this hearing ensures that we will not succeed in that mission in this subcommittee today.”
