VOICE OF THE MAJORITY

FROM THE DESK OF DOGGETT:

Dear Joshua:

Knowing of your concerns for protecting our liberties, I offer this update from Washington regarding the shocking revelation that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on Americans without seeking a warrant.Yesterday, I joined several colleagues in filing a "Resolution of Inquiry" requesting that the Justice Department turn over documents in their possession authorizing the NSA's warrantless spying on American citizens' telephone calls and emails and the legal recommendations to do so, subject to any necessary redactions or security classifications. President Bush claimed authority for him to authorize surveillance of Americans rested on the congressional resolution that authorized the war in Afghanistan only a few days after 9/11. In fact, this is just the kind of activity that Congress did not intend to authorize when it gave President Bush the power to attack Afghanistan. I issued the following warning on the floor of the House of Representatives on September 14, 2001:[T]imes of peril can also cause our well-justified anger and desire for immediate action to overwhelm democratic safeguards erected over the last two centuries. The tension that we face tonight is to provide the President with enough authority to eradicate wrongdoing without wronging the carefully crafted systems of checks and balances so essential to our democracy. As we vote for this important resolution with the lives of so many at stake in this important endeavor against terrorism, we cannot let the Executive branch become the exclusive branch. Our approval must represent not the end but the beginning of congressional involvement.The President should stop hiding behind the skirt of national security. There is no justification for denying Congress and the public the documents we seek. On Friday, when the President was asked by Jim Lehrer whether he authorized the secret wiretaps, the President declined to answer, citing national security. But by the next day, with his political security at stake, President Bush not only discussed the domestic spying program but said he would keep doing it. We should not surrender our liberties to any Administration. Retreating to such abusive tactics is weakness, not strength. Authoritarianism is not born full-bodied, it is conceived in small injustices, which tolerated over time, become irreversible. As I stated last week during debate on renewal of the mis-named PATRIOT Act, "Real patriots understand: An all-powerful government can undermine our security just as surely as a dangerous religious fanatic. Intrusive, invasive powers in the hands of a few, with little oversight and no accountability, are a formula for wrongdoing."Please keep me advised of any federal matters on which I may be of assistance.Sincerely,Lloyd---------------U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett201 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, D.C. 20515(202) 225-4865, (956) 687-5921, (512) 916-5921http://www.house.gov/doggett

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Monday, January 02, 2006