Washington, D.C. -Late Wednesday, Congressman Howard Berman and 71 other Representatives filed papers seeking to end the President's warrantless eavesdropping program.

 

The members filed an amicus brief in two federal courts reviewing challenges to the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program. The cases are American Civil Liberties Union v. NSA/CSS in Detroit, and Center for Constitutional Rights v. Bush in New York.

 

The brief argues that Congress never authorized the warrantless spying program, neither through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 nor the Authorization for Use of Military Force. It recounts the legislative history of both and asks the court to stop the program immediately.

 

The Administration is due to respond to the ACLU's and CCR's initial complaints and motions for summary judgment late next week.

 

Shayana Kadidal, a CCR staff attorney on the case, welcomed the support from Members of Congress: "This important brief reiterates that Congress made all warrantless spying illegal and the NSA is currently breaking the law. The brief explains that Congress did not declare open season for surveillance in America when it authorized war in Afghanistan. President Bush and General Hayden have admitted they are spying on Americans without warrants, and we will keep fighting in court to stop them."

 

"Today's support from so many leaders of our federal government show that Americans will not tolerate the government snooping into their calls and emails without court approval," said Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU. "The American people should be proud to be represented by lawmakers who are so determined to uphold our most precious and basic values."

The brief was filed by Barry Coburn of Trout Cacheris, Hugh "Buck" Davis of the National Lawyers Guild and Dave Gourevitch of the Law Offices of David Gourevitch.

 

 

The following 72 Representatives are amici in the brief :

 

John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan

Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii

Gary Ackerman of New York

Brian Baird of Washington

Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin

Howard Berman of California

Shelley Berkley of Nevada

Earl Blumenauer of Oregon

Rick Boucher of Virginia

Corrine Brown of Florida

Michael Capuano of Massachusetts

Julia Carson of Indiana

William Lacy Clay of Missouri

Artur Davis of Alabama

Peter DeFazio of Oregon

Diana DeGette of Colorado

William Delahunt of Massachusetts

Sam Farr of California

Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania

Barney Frank of Massachusetts

Al Green of Texas

Raul Grijalva of Arizona

Maurice Hinchey of New York

Ruben Hinojosa of Texas

Michael Honda of California

Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Illinois

Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas

Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas

Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio

Dale E. Kildee of Michigan

Carolyn C. Kilpatrick of Michigan

Dennis Kucinich of Ohio

Tom Lantos of California

Barbara Lee of California

Zoe Lofgren of California

John Lewis of Georgia

Carolyn Maloney of New York

Edward Markey of Massachusetts

Jim McDermott of Washington

James McGovern of Massachusetts

Martin Meehan of Massachusetts

George Miller of California

James Moran of Virginia

Jerrold Nadler of New York

Eleanor Holmes Norton of District of Columbia

James Oberstar of Minnesota

John Olver of Massachusetts

Major Owens of New York

Donald Payne of New Jersey

Charles Rangel of New York

Linda Sanchez of California

Bernard Sanders of Vermont

Janice Schakowsky of Illinois

Bobby Scott of Virginia

Jose Serrano of New York

Brad Sherman of California

Louise Slaughter of New York

Hilda Solis of California

Fortney Pete Stark of California

Bennie Thompson of Mississippi

John Tierney of Massachusetts

Tom Udall of New Mexico

Chris Van Hollen of Maryland

Debbie Wasserman Shultz of Florida

Melvin Watt of North Carolina

Maxine Waters of California

Diane Watson of California

Henry Waxman of California

Robert Wexler of Florida

Lynn Woolsey of California

David Wu of Oregon

Albert Russell Wynn of Maryland