A panel of the Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed killing all funding for the T.I.A., the Defense Department's Terror Information Awareness Program. The program is the brainchild of John Poindexter.

Earlier this year, the Senate passed an amendment by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) prohibiting funding of the TIA, but allowing research, until Sept. 30, 2003.
The Senate panel now proposes extending that ban for another year, and banning funding for all purposes. The measure provides:

No funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Defense ... or to any other department, agency or element of the federal government, may be obligated or expended on research and development on the Terrorism Information Awareness program."

If this provision passes the Senate, it will proceed to a House-Senate Conference Committee.

Our view: Let's kill this privacy-intrusive data-mining program once and for all. The Government has enough information about us already, and there is no showing that the program will enhance our safety.