Congressional leaders: NSA data gathering is routine

Susan Davis | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Verizon may be giving customer records to NSA Verizon has been ordered to give the National Security Administration data on every call its business customers make, according to a report by the British newspaper The Guardian.

New report about government collecting broad telephone data spurs uproar

Senators say the program has been going on for years and helps stop terrorism

Some lawmakers voice concern the data gathering is too broad

WASHINGTON — The top lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee sought to tamp down the uproar over revelations that the National Security Agency swept up millions of Verizon telephone records, reminding their colleagues that Congress has approved laws granting the NSA authority to do exactly that.

"This is nothing particularly new. This has been going on for seven years under the auspices of the (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) authority and every member of the United States Senate has been advised of this," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the top Republican on the intelligence panel. "To my knowledge, we have not had any citizen who has registered a complaint relative to the gathering of this information, and it is simply what we call 'meta data.'"

The data collected by the NSA included information about the phone numbers involved in calls and the length of the calls and other identifying information, but not the content of the conversation.

Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., joined Chambliss in defending the data collection as integral to protecting the USA from terrorist attacks. "There have been approximately 100 plots and also arrests made since 2009 by the FBI. I do not know to what extent meta data was used or if it was used, but I do know this: Terrorists will come after us if they can, and the only thing that we have to deter this is good intelligence," she said.

Feinstein said the requests for telephone records are renewed every three months and lawmakers are allowed to review the intelligence efforts in periodic classified briefings.

House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich. said information collected from the phone records enabled U.S. authorities to stop at least one "significant case." He declined to provide any further details but said he was in touch with federal officials in an effort to release more information. Feinstein also said the program has prevented attacks. 'Well, it has," she said, "but that's classified."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., likewise pushed back on early criticism. "Everyone should just calm down and understand this isn't anything that is brand new. It's been going on for some seven years. And we've tried often to try to make it better, and we'll continue to do that," he said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., defended the NSA's data gathering. "An individual has nothing to worry about … they have to prove to a judge that there's probable cause that you're involved in terrorism." Graham said he had no issue with the program. "If we don't do it, we're crazy."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., offered a more cautious assessment. "Obviously if they are trying to track bad people, then I think there's legitimacy to it, but is there sufficient oversight? Is it sufficiently narrow in scope? We just need to hear more about it, but it is a matter of concern."

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Thursday that he has been briefed on the NSA's phone record gathering and acknowledged that senators were aware of the program. "It's been extremely difficult because it is classified information. Now that it's been publicly disclosed there will be more conversation," he said, adding that he hopes it will prompt "a very important debate about security and freedom."

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said he voted for FISA and the Patriot Act but said he did not recall being briefed on the scope of the program. "I'm pretty good about attending meetings. I don't remember being briefed," he said, "I never voted intentionally for any bill that would grant blanket (authority) to then just monitor every phone call of every American citizen."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, also acknowledged that Congress approved laws granting the NSA authority. "I'm fully confident that both the House and the Senate Intelligence Committees have provided oversight on this subject and will continue to provide oversight on this subject," he said. Boehner said it was incumbent upon President Obama to explain to the public why the program is needed. "It's time for the president to outline the issues here and why, in fact, it's important."

The phone data gathering program is not without congressional critics.

Lawmakers spanning the ideological spectrum called for a renewed debate about the broad authority granted to run such intelligence operations. "(The American people) have a right to know whether the program that has been described is actually of value in preventing attacks. Based on several years of oversight, I believe that its value and effectiveness remain unclear," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been a frequent critic of both the Patriot Act and FISA. Fellow critic and civil libertarian Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called it "an astounding assault on the Constitution."

"I never, ever expected that under any definition of that legislation that it would mean that the phone calls of millions and millions of Americans — virtually none of whom the government has any reason to believe is involved in terrorism — would be checked by the United States government. That is not what freedom and constitutional rights are about," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

The Senate Intelligence Committee convened a classified briefing with national security officials Thursday afternoon to discuss the phone data mining. Twenty-seven senators attended.

"As a result of the disclosures that came to light today, now we're going to have a real debate," Wyden told reporters after the meeting.

Any debate, however, is likely to be held behind closed doors because, as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., noted, the information and program under debate remain classified.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it is possible a classified briefing with House members could occur next week.

The Guardian newspaper in London published a story Wednesday revealing the NSA's demand for Verizon's phone records.

Contributing: Associated Press

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