Holy shit! They're actually putting the brakes on this thing!
Senate Blocks Funding for Pentagon Database
Reuters
Thursday, January 23, 2003; 7:40 PM
By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying they feared government snooping against ordinary Americans, U.S. senators voted on Thursday to block funding for a Pentagon computer project that would scour databases for terrorist threats.
By a voice vote, the Senate voted to ban funding for the Total Information Awareness program, under former national security adviser John Poindexter, until the Pentagon explains the program and assesses its impact on civil liberties.
The measure, introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, also said the computer dragnet being developed could not be deployed without congressional approval, although it allowed exceptions for national security. It was tacked onto a spending package in the Senate, but it is not yet law.
It is now expected to go to House and Senate negotiators. If the negotiators keep the provision in the spending package, it will advance to the House and Senate for final passage before going to the president for signing into law.
"This makes it clear that Congress wants to make sure there is no snooping on law-abiding Americans," Wyden told Reuters after the vote.
He said the electronic data dragnet as proposed was "the most far-reaching government surveillance program in history."
The Defense Department says the aim of the Total Information Awareness project, which is still in its infancy, is to seek patterns in transactions data like credit card bills and travel records to stop terrorist plots.
Wyden and other Democrats announced last week they would try to block funding for it, citing concerns that it will amount to electronic surveillance of personal data of all Americans by the government and trample privacy rights.
Senior Republican senators worked with Wyden on the wording of the Senate measure, including Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa. He said he was worried the lines were getting blurred between domestic law enforcement and military security efforts.
CONCERNS ABOUT POINDEXTER
Critics of the project also have expressed concern that the project is being directed by Poindexter, a retired admiral who was convicted of deceiving Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal. His conviction was set aside on the grounds his immunized congressional testimony had been used against him.
A Pentagon spokeswoman defended the program after the Senate vote on Thursday, saying officials continued to believe that the research and development planned was important.
"TIA will develop innovative information technology tools that will give the Department of Defense's intelligence, counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism communities important capabilities to prevent terrorist attacks against the U.S.," the Pentagon spokeswoman said.
The Senate measure requires the Pentagon to report to Congress on the goals of the program within 60 days of the bill's final passage, including recommendations from the Attorney General on minimizing the impact on civil liberties.
The measure also would keep the Pentagon from deploying the program or transferring it to another department, such as the FBI or the new Homeland Security department, without congressional authorization.
But these limitations would not apply if the deployment or transfer of technology was being made for lawful foreign intelligence activities or U.S. military operations outside the United States.
Wyden said there had to be exceptions for national security. "There has got to be congressional approval to deploy these technologies, so this information doesn't get circulated indiscriminately all over government," he said.
"But in striking the balance, when talking about matters of national security, those matters can go forward," he said.
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A cynic would say that they were just unhappy with Poindexter's record vis-a-vis Congress. On the other hand, I have a friend who works in the news biz and had a chance to talk to a few congresspersons about this. The odd thing was that right from the get-go, none of them seemed to like the idea of the IAO any more than I do. Whaddayaknow. The system might actually work for once. Maybe. We'll see what the counter-move is. |
