Feinstein Denounces Bush Spying

[kerrygoddess]

Say what you will about DiFi - she nailed Bush to the wall today!

Dianne Feinstein on Denounced Decision of the President to Authorize Domestic Spying by the NSA
December 16th, 2005

Today, Senator Dianne Feinstein of CA denounced, in a very strong statement on the Senate floor - basically nailing Bush to the wall, the reported decision of the Bush Administration to allow surveillance of U.S. citizens by the National Security Agency, in apparent violation of the law.

{snip}
Let me be clear. Domestic intelligence collection is governed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA. This law sets out a careful set of checks and balances that are designed to ensure that domestic intelligence collection is conducted in accordance with the Constitution, under the supervision of judges and with accountability to the Congress of the United States.

{snip}
If the President of the United States is not going to follow the law and he simply alerts eight Members, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t violate a law. I repeat, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t violate a law. FISA is the exclusive law in this area, unless there is something I missed, and please, someone, if there is, bring it to my attention.

{snip}
I would argue the resolution authorizing use of force was not a declaration of war. I read it this morning carefully. It does not authorize the President of the United States to do anything other than use force. It doesn’t say he can wiretap people in the United States of America. And apparently, perhaps with some change, but apparently this activity has been going on unbeknownst to most of us in this body and in the other body now since 2002.

FULL FLOOR STATEMENT - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1425