Dear Senator Feinstein,
I received a reply from you dated April 8. I wrote about my deep distress finding that you were not in attendance at the Motion to Censure hearing to stand with senators Feingold and Leahy.
In your email response you did not answer the question I put forward: Where were you this morning during the Motion to Censure hearing? Could Anything Have Been More Important???
In your response, you said instead:
"Once the facts are clear, we can decide on appropriate corrective action."
In light of your conclusion, other statements made by you from that very same letter certainly do indicate that the time for fact finding and decisions on action have come and gone. Here, Senator Feinstein, is what you said:
1) ...the electronic surveillance program was not conducted in accordance with U.S. law.
2) The program...violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
3) The Administration has never asked for the authority to conduct this program...
4) ...the Administration also violated the National Security Act, which requires all members of the Intelligence Committee to be fully and currently informed...
and that you are, if fact,
5) ...a member of the Intelligence Committee, and yet [were] not told about this program until it was made public.
Please join senators Feingold, Leahy and now, Senator Kerry in holding this administration accountable. Because, Ms. Feinstein, history will hold you accountable as someone who either lingered indecisively or did the job you were entrusted to do.
Sincerely,
Unrepresented Voter in a Snit
PS I will sign up for your newsletter expecting direct answers. Otherwise, it's a worthless gesture.
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I include the full message received from Ms. Feinstein below:
April 8, 2006
Dear Ms. "Voter in a Snit":
Thank you for writing to me about recent revelations that the United States Government has engaged in domestic electronic eavesdropping without appropriate legal authority. I welcome the opportunity to respond.
On February 6th, the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first of a series of hearings into this matter, at which Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified about the legality of the program. He provided none of the documents the Committee required for proper oversight, and his assurances alone did not allay my concerns. Instead, he propounded a radical legal theory of presidential power largely unrestrained by either Congress or the courts.
I have carefully reviewed the Constitution and the laws relating to this domestic intelligence activity, along with the President's statements and those of the Attorney General and other Administration officials. I believe that the electronic surveillance program was not conducted in accordance with U.S. law. The program, as described, violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires a court order for surveillance of Americans. Congress has updated FISA many times since 9/11 in order to provide our nation with all the necessary tools to fight terrorism. The Administration has never asked for the authority to conduct this program.
I believe the Administration also violated the National Security Act, which requires all members of the Intelligence Committee to be fully and currently informed of all significant intelligence activities other than covert actions. I am a member of the Intelligence Committee, and yet I was not told about this program until it was made public.
There will be further hearings in the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees. Once the facts are clear, we can decide on appropriate corrective action.
Again, thank you for writing. I hope that you will continue to write to me on issues of importance to you. Best regards.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
http://feinstein.senate.gov
Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the Nation are available at my website http://feinstein.senate.gov. You can also receive electronic e-mail updates by subscribing to my e-mail list at http://feinstein.senate.gov/issue.html
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My last comment is: blah. blah. blah blah blahhhhh...
