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WASHINGTON D.C. -- Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, today sent the following letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
May 3, 2006
Senator Arlen Specter Senator Pat Leahy
Chairman Ranking Member
Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Judiciary Committee
U.S. Senate U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Specter and Ranking Member Leahy:
In light of your Committee's potential action tomorrow on the NSA Program, we want you to be aware of a proposal that we are developing to require that the entire Program comply with FISA. This legislation would give the government the resources to conduct this Program using individualized warrants based on probable cause.
Specifically, our legislation:
Clarifies that the Authorization to Use Military Force did not constitute authority to engage in electronic surveillance outside of FISA.
Clarifies that FISA and Title III are the exclusive ways to conduct electronic surveillance of US persons on US soil.
Requires DOJ and NSA to develop a plan to ensure that the emergency procedures of FISA are adequate for the timely electronic surveillance of appropriate terrorism targets in the United States. (Such a plan will include recommendations for increasing resources and streamlining the approvals process for emergency FISA applications.)
Authorizes $10 million annually to add resources in order to expedite processing of emergency FISA applications.
Although this proposal is not final, we are attaching it for your consideration, in hopes that you will give something along these lines support in your Committee. One of us has been fully briefed on the program and on how FISA works at NSA and DOJ, and we are confident our approach will preserve Congress's carefully crafted legislative framework and the requirements of the Fourth Amendment.
Sincerely,
Jane Harman John Conyers
Ranking Member Ranking Member
House Intelligence Committee House Judiciary Committee
CC: Chairman Hoekstra
Chairman Sensenbrenner
Chairman Roberts
Vice Chairman Rockefeller
Senator Biden
Senator Feinstein
Senator Durbin
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