Nominations Made to Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
December 16, 2010 (WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement in response to notice that President Obama has nominated James Dempsey and Elisebeth Collins Cook to serve as members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
In 2007, The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was authorized by the Implementing the Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act as an independent agency within the Executive Branch to assist the President and other senior Executive Branch officials in ensuring that concerns with respect to privacy and civil liberties are appropriately considered in the implementation of all laws, regulations, and executive branch policies related to war against terrorism.
“As the author of the 9/11 Act, I have a particular interest in seeing an active Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. I am pleased that the President has begun the process of reconstituting the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and has nominated James Dempsey, a leading expert in national security policy and its relationship to privacy and civil rights that has worked extensively with my Committee. As the White House and Congress move forward with policy changes in national security, the advice and counsel of this board will be invaluable. I look forward to swift Senate action on these nominations.”
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FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Dena Graziano or Adam Comis at (202) 225-9978
