August 16, 2007

Reid, Pelosi Call on Bush to Provide Outstanding Information on FISA

Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  today sent President Bush the following letter, requesting that the President provide all documents and other information sought by the House and Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees in order to conduct oversight of the implementation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): 

August 16, 2007

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Earlier this month, Congress passed S. 1927, an interim response to your Administration=s proposal for changes in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).  That legislation, which you signed into law, expires in six months.  At our request, the House and Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees will be conducting thorough oversight of the implementation of these interim changes, and are working to produce a longer-term response to your proposal for Congress to consider well in advance of the expiration of the current law.    

We understand that this work has been hindered by the Administration=s continuing refusal to provide all of the documents and other information sought by the committees.  Therefore we request a prompt response, at a classified level where necessary, to all outstanding document and information requests by the committees.  Although recent efforts by the Director of National Intelligence and other Administration officials to provide some information have been steps in the right direction, much more needs to be done.

A satisfactory response to our request would include materials requested by the committees on both current and previous surveillance programs, legal and other memoranda supporting such programs, applications for surveillance, any pleadings and courts orders involved, as well as all information set forth in the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoena of June 27, 2007.  All of this material and information should be available for all members of the committees to review, and be made available to a sufficient number of appropriately cleared staff of the committees.  

Prompt action on these requests and full access to this information is critical as the Congress considers modifications to FISA that will ensure effective intelligence gathering in a manner that protects national security and is consistent with fundamental American freedoms.

Thank you for your attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Harry Reid
Nancy Pelosi

« Back to Press Releases