Contact: Antonia Ferrier (202) 224-5344
Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and a bipartisan group of Senate Intelligence Committee members today called for a joint inquiry by the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees into the President’s authorization of domestic electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens.

“Revelations that the U.S. government has conducted domestic electronic surveillance without express legal authority indeed warrants Congressional examination. I believe the Congress – as a coequal branch of government – must immediately and expeditiously review the use of this practice,” said Snowe.

Joining Senator Snowe on the letter to Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), the chairman and vice chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence were Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The following is the text of the letter:

The Honorable Arlen Specter

Chairman

Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy

Ranking Member

Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Pat Roberts

Chairman

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV

Vice Chairman

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Washington, DC 2051

Dear Senators,

We write to express our profound concern about recent revelations that the United States Government may have engaged in domestic electronic surveillance without appropriate legal authority. These allegations, which the President, at least in part, confirmed this weekend require immediate inquiry and action by the Senate.

We respectfully request that the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary, which share jurisdiction and oversight of this issue, jointly undertake an inquiry into the facts and law surrounding these allegations. The overlapping jurisdiction of these two Committees is particularly critical where civil liberties and the rule of law hang in the balance.

On Saturday the President stated that he “authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations.” It is critical that Congress determine, as quickly as possible, exactly what collection activities were authorized, what were actually undertaken, how many names and numbers were involved over what period, and what was the asserted legal authority for such activities. In sum, we must determine the facts.

Both the Judiciary and the Intelligence Committee have had numerous hearings and briefings on the authorities provided to the nation’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies in their effort to defend against terrorism. We have extensively debated these issues. At no time, to our knowledge, did any Administration representative ask the Congress to consider amending existing law to permit electronic surveillance of suspected terrorists without a warrant such as outlined in the New York Times article.

We strongly believe that the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees should immediately seek to answer the factual and legal questions which surround these revelations, and recommend appropriate action to the Senate.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein Carl Levin

Chuck Hagel Olympia Snowe

Ron Wyden

cc: Members of the Committee on the Judiciary

Members of the Select Committee on Intelligence