FBI: No Need To Curb Domestic Surveillance

Agency Tells Congress It Is Already Cracking Down On Wrongful Use Of National Security Letters

(AP)  The FBI is resisting legislation that would put more restrictions on domestic surveillance of Americans' private records, saying the agency already has tightened its rules to crack down on wrongful use of national security letters.

FBI general counsel Valerie E. Caproni told a House panel Tuesday that the agency has responded to abuses outlined in internal reports by tightening the requirements for issuing national security letters.

National security letters, or NSLs, are investigative tools used to compel businesses to turn over customer information without a judge's order or grand jury subpoena.

She said the agency has improved training programs on the use of NSLs and limited information that can be gathered from third parties - like phone companies and banks.

"In light of the FBI's tremendous progress in this regard, further legislative changes, including the measures envisioned by (Congress), would be neither necessary nor appropriate," Caproni said in testimony to the House subcommittee on the constitution.

Majority Democrats and some Republicans in Congress disagree. Lawmakers in the House and Senate are pushing legislation that would limit the FBI's ability to secretly collect reams of information on the bank, telephone, credit card and internet accounts of private Americans involved in terrorism investigations.

One key concern is Caprioni's statement that new FBI policies amount to sufficient "checks and balances" against the secret letters violating people's civil liberties.

"Some of us think that 'checks and balances' means that you check with another branch of government," Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said during the hearing. "All these (Department of Justice) employees are checking and balancing themselves."

Caprioni pointed out that Glenn A. Fine, DOJ's inspector general, works for the agency and uncovered significant misuse of NSLs that he documented in two reports beginning last year.

Fine found that the FBI issued improper demands in 2006 for records of 3,860 telephone lines to justify the fact the bureau had obtained the data using an illegal procedure that is now prohibited.

The probe also found that a federal court twice denied the FBI's request for a warrant. The bureau got the same records without a warrant using national security letters.

Fine's first report led to new procedures, according to the FBI and the Justice Department.

For some in Congress, the new rules aren't enough. Subcommittee chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., is sponsoring legislation that would tighten restrictions on how much information should be given to the FBI under an NSL and require that they clearly pertain to a foreign power or a specific agent, rather than the current standard that they be relevant to a terror probe.

The House bill also would create a new rule that FBI agents must destroy information obtained under an NSL for a person who is no longer of interest to the probe.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the issue April 23.

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks gave new urgency to the government's search for terrorists. The Patriot Act expanded the FBI's authority to use the letters as a tool in this search, prompting immediate protests from civil libertarians who said the new law did not include sufficient safeguards against abuse by the government.

[impeach_w]

I see that no one is yet Mad enough about this. I guess you haven''t read this ***** yet:
Feds Plan to Collect DNA Samples From Everyone They Arrest
The government plans to begin collecting DNA samples from anyone arrested by a federal law enforcement agency %u2014 a move intended to prevent violent crime but which also is raising concerns about the privacy of innocent people.
Using authority granted by Congress, the government also plans to collect DNA samples from foreigners who are detained, whether they have been charged or not. The DNA would be collected through a cheek swab, Justice Department spokesman Erik Ablin said. That would be a departure from current practice, which limits DNA collection to convicted felons. Congress gave the Justice Department the authority to expand DNA collection in two different laws passed in 2005 and 2006. There are dozens of federal law enforcement agencies, ranging from the FBI to the Library of Congress Police that make about 140,000 arrests each year. The new regulation would mean that the federal government could store DNA samples of people who are not guilty of any crime.
The Homeland Security Department %u2014 the federal agency charged with policing immigration %u2014 supports the new rule.
The proposed rule is being published in the Federal Register. That will be followed by a 30-day comment period.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351526,00.html

[michellem99-2009]

Dear America
By Barbara Ann M/
Dear America
I ask
why yep why.
Are ye more blind than I.
I was told how great ye be.
That was when I was a child.
Yer constution grants us rightd.
Dear America
How could ye fall
Yep from the greatness
to a 3rd world nation.
Is it greed ,lust of power.
I am pld ye see
I was raised to love ye.
Dear America
As I think about ye.
Do ye know why yer hated.
I do and it hurts.
We the people,
by the people
And for the people.
What happrned really
We need to get back to that.
I ask who will hear my cry.
No one as yer changed.
A bad way at that.
I heard this as a child
Yer too big for yer pants.
That is true.
Is is not.
So yer leaders
What is their mission
A police dtate..
No way Dear.

[javadavid]

Sounds a lot like, "I''ll be good mommy. I promise."

[gunownerdan]

"Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of American, cannot succeed with any lesser effort."
-- President John F. Kennedy, January 29, 1961

[quetzal0666]

Of Course we should trust the FBI to not trample our
Bill of rights, they have a very good track record going way back......

[bdrlnt4rl]

the way i see it, if i am living within the limits of the law, if have nothing to hide. who cares if they want to listen to me talk on the phone about changing a babies diaper.

i have nothing to hide. and if it prevents another possible attack on america, let them spy on boring americans. i have nothing to hide.

[kwajmi]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely!
-----------------
Posted by gunownerdan

And they are just oh so absolutely corrupted down to the core. I agree dan!

[gunownerdan]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely!

[afmca]

Posts from jamesm12341 and swilla sum up the problem with the American electorate today. jamesm12341 has identified immaturity as the causal agent for anyone that would deem to find issues with Bush and his criminal organization. The courts have dismissed and found fault with so many of his presidential dictatorial edicts that it would be quite easy to bring criminal charges against him and many members of his administration. swilla is willing to do away with the Constitution to catch the bogeyman terrorists that Bush, Cheney, and the neo-cons have used in their quest for total power. We have fought multiple evil enemies during WWI, WWII, Korea, etc. and never felt the need to give away our rights and freedoms during the fight. Bush''s historical ignorance and Cheney''s evil greed are behind this power quest. This Islamic enemy pales in comparison - they only thing that makes this different is the fear mongering of Bush/Cheney; the religious bigotry of the christian right, and the manipulation of the news by the neo-con propaganda machine centered in FOX News.

[swwils]

I am doing nothing wrong,so I don''t care if the F.B.I.,is checking out my records.The only ones ******** about this must be crooked.They can waste their time tapping my phone I don''t care,it won''t be long until they move on a find the criminals,or terrorist.