[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 34 (Thursday, March 16, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S2301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to offer a few brief comments 
on the National Security Agency eavesdropping program.
  The truth is that we don't know what is going on under this program. 
And we have an obligation to find out and a committee set up to do just 
that.
  Senator Rockefeller has been correct from the beginning to call for a 
full and thorough Intelligence Committee investigation. I couldn't 
agree more with my colleague from West Virginia and was deeply 
disappointed his March 7 motion calling for a full committee 
investigation failed along party lines.
  I have been arguing consistently since we found out about this 
program in December that we need to do here what we did when we 
originally crafted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FISA.
  For several years preceding the enactment of FISA in 1978, the 
Judiciary and Intelligence Committees conducted extensive public and 
private hearings and staff investigations that built the record for the 
act.
  FISA was a bipartisan product; in the Senate, the original version 
was sponsored by Senators across the ideological spectrum--including 
Birch Bayh, Ted Kennedy, Mac Mathias, James Eastland, and Strom 
Thurmond.
  The Senate ultimately adopted the bill on April 20, 1978, by a strong 
bipartisan vote of 95 to 1. At the time the bill was approved in the 
Senate, I stated that it ``was a reaffirmation of the principle that it 
is possible to protect national security and at the same time the Bill 
of Rights.'' I was also a member of the conference committee that 
produced the final version of the law that was enacted with broad 
support in October 1978.
  I was proud of what we were able to accomplish then and sincerely 
hoped that we could undertake the same serious, thoughtful, bipartisan 
process here. And the first step is to undertake a full Intelligence 
Committee investigation, just as my colleague Vice Chairman Rockefeller 
has been pushing for months.
  It is essential that such a carefully considered record be developed 
so we don't act precipitously either to legislate or not to legislate. 
Issues concerning the core privacy rights of U.S. citizens, whether we 
are fighting an effective war on terrorism, and the fundamental 
structure of our separation of powers are directly involved here and 
deserve a full and thorough examination.
  At present, our knowledge of the National Security Agency program is 
severely limited. We need to know much more, for example: No. 1, the 
nature and scope of the program or programs; No. 2, the extent of the 
impact on U.S. citizens; No. 3, why the administration did not seek 
amendments to FISA; No. 4, why some high Justice Department officials 
were hesitant to approve the program; No. 5, the actual value of the 
information gathered; No. 6, how decisions are made on whom to target; 
and No. 7, any procedures followed to protect civil liberties. Senator 
Rockefeller understands that we need to know the answers to our 
questions.
  But politics and protecting the President seem to be the order of the 
day. I am told one of the committee Republicans went so far as to say 
that some of the committee Democrats ``believe the gravest threat we 
face is not Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, but rather the president of 
the United States.'' That is totally uncalled for; it is ridiculous.
  I understand a special subcommittee has now been created to conduct 
at least some oversight over the NSA surveillance program going 
forward. But this just isn't enough--the whole committee should be 
undertaking an investigation, and it should be a full and thorough 
investigation, just as Senator Rockefeller has called for.
  It also is a grave mistake to put forward legislation authorizing the 
NSA program outside of the FISA system and in advance of actually 
knowing anything about the program, as some of my colleagues are 
proposing. Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
  So I would hope we learn from history and listen to Senator 
Rockefeller. Let's go back to what worked so well in the past when we 
all worked together to craft FISA. Let's first hold a full and thorough 
investigation in the Intelligence Committee.
  Then, and only when we know what is going on, should we make a 
judgment about whether FISA needs to be updated. If additional changes 
need to be made, this Senator stands ready and willing to engage in 
that exercise.

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