Washington – Claiming federal investigators are missing key information on terrorists because of an outdated spying law, the top U.S. intelligence official called on lawmakers Tuesday to revamp the foreign surveillance act and make it easier to eavesdrop on noncitizens in the U.S. with suspected links to terrorism.
But Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee seemed skeptical of the pitch from Justice Department officials and Michael McConnell, the director of national intelligence, to update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the wake of revelations that the Bush administration conducted a warrantless wiretapping program after the Sept. 11 attacks.
While the administration contends that the wiretapping was legal and necessary to thwart further attacks, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said “legitimate disagreement” on whether the president broke the law remains. The White House proposed revisions to the surveillance act, which is known as FISA, that would significantly broaden federal investigators’ authority to spy on foreigners in the U.S.
Changes in the law also call for providing legal cover to telecom companies that aid the government with such information as phone and e-mail records.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said the proposal would allow the attorney general to order the assistance of private parties, such as the telecoms, without first obtaining a judicial FISA warrant.
McConnell complained that the process of obtaining warrants from FISA courts is cumbersome and can lead to important information on potential terrorists slipping away.
Also Tuesday, a report said state investigators listened in on more than 3 million phone conversations last year, mostly to investigate drug crimes.
