Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released a statement about the inspector generals’ report on President Bush’s warrantless surveillance program.
I am pleased that the Administration has met this important obligation under the FISA Amendments Act. From the moment I learned of the Warrantless Surveillance Program, I have been committed to getting all the facts on the table. Today’s report includes an unclassified discussion of the program that I hope will bring greater clarity for the public on what has been a troubling chapter in our nation’s history.
Unfortunately, the bulk of the report is classified and cannot be released to the public. But the Committee will scrutinize every page and, wherever warranted, push the Administration to provide more information. If necessary, the Committee will investigate the matter ourselves.
Some readers will find the recounting of the program’s history very troubling, but we need to cast light on such matters and subject them to public debate. Where the subject matter is too sensitive for public discussion, the Congress and the courts must still be involved. The FISA Amendments Act offers an excellent example of how the Congress can act to bring necessary oversight to important intelligence activities.
For many years, the Bush Administration chose to keep almost everyone in the dark about the Warrantless Surveillance Program. They didn’t tell the FISA Court. They briefed only a select few in Congress. They didn’t even tell some of the most experienced national security lawyers inside the Justice Department. This is not the way to conduct the business of national security. Our nation was founded on the principles of checks and balances, and all three branches of government must be involved in the process.
The FISA Amendments Act is important legislation. It created rigorous oversight mechanisms to review and control Executive Branch surveillance powers. It took what was a program that had no oversight–even from within the Executive Branch–and it established new requirements for judicial review, congressional oversight, and periodic reviews by agency inspectors general. It also called for the report that was released today, which I hope will be a big first step in bringing this program out from the shadows.
Moving forward, the Committee will continue to do its job of overseeing the intelligence activities of the U.S. Government, and we will continue to push for public disclosure wherever possible.
