Sen. Roberts Wants to Protect President, Not the Rest of Us
by TChris
Rather than investigating the scope and targets of the NSA's domestic surveillance program, Senate Republicans seem inclined to amend the law to give the president broader power to spy on Americans.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said the committee decided not to vote on whether to open an investigation after the White House agreed to give lawmakers more information on the program and agreed to changes to the current law, according to Roberts and White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino.
In December, two Intelligence Committee Republicans -- Olympia Snowe of Maine and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska -- joined Democrats in calling for a congressional investigation of the NSA program. Thursday, they voted to forestall hearings in favor of developing White House-backed legislation establishing clearer rules for the controversial program. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, is drafting legislation that would exempt the NSA program from the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act but limit eavesdropping to international calls.
The NY Times asks: "Is there any aspect of President Bush's miserable record on intelligence that Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is not willing to excuse and help to cover up?"
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