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Bush administration wants to update surveillance law

The US administration is pushing to change the Alien Surveillance Act, passed in 1978. CIA Director Michael Hayden told the US Senate Judiciary Committee that this need was dictated by technological progress and the growing terrorist threat. US Deputy Attorney General Stephen Bradbury emphasized that more than twenty years ago, “Congress could not have foreseen the advent of the Internet, email and mobile communications.”

Authorities were concerned about updating the 1978 law after the public questioned the legality of the government's actions, which, after September 11, 2001, allowed the interception of international telephone conversations and emails of Americans suspected of terrorism without court approval. The Bush administration maintains that the electronic surveillance program, which became public knowledge in December 2005, is completely legal. The White House is citing a 2002 law that allowed it to use military force against Saddam Hussein. According to the US Department of Justice, the authorization issued four years ago to overthrow the regime in Baghdad relieves the government of the need to each time ask the Special Security Court created under the 1978 Act to issue warrants for individual interceptions of the surveillance program.

The Senate Judiciary Committee recognizes the need to modernize the 1978 Act. The head of the committee, Republican Arlen Specter, proposes to develop new legal norms that would allow the Special Secret Court to determine the legality of unauthorized surveillance in the new conditions. Specter demands "a balance be struck between national security interests and invasions of privacy." This, in his opinion, can be achieved by introducing legislative amendments that place the secret activities of the government under the rule of law. They, according to the senator, are especially necessary when “the president shows a demonstrative reluctance to present his program to the public.”

Let us recall that in January Specter spoke about the possibility of impeaching President Bush. Specter expresses the views of a group of congressmen accusing the US administration of violating the law. “There is every reason to speculate whether the 1978 Act needs to be amended. But its possible shortcomings do not give the government any reason to flout the law,” said Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy.

These disputes are unfolding against the backdrop of a wave of lawsuits from outraged citizens sweeping American courts. The White House insists that these claims remain unfulfilled, as their consideration could lead to the disclosure of state secrets. There are at least two known cases of dismissal of claims against one of the largest US telephone companies, AT&T, which transferred recordings of Americans' conversations to the government. The reason for the refusal was “the possibility of leakage during the hearings of information that could tell America’s adversaries too much about the intelligence programs of the US government.”

Nikolai Zlobin, director of Russian and Asian programs at the World Security Institute in Washington, told Vremya Novostei that the Bush administration's desire to update the 1978 Act stems from the intention of "demonstrating a commitment to the rule of law." At the same time, the authorities want to “insure themselves in the event of a Democratic victory in the fall congressional elections,” because in this case, the 2002 law could be repealed “due to the end of the emergency situation in which it was adopted.” “Republicans in Congress, including Specter, believe that in order to preserve their political careers, they should distance themselves from the owner of the White House, who is losing popularity,” noted VN’s interlocutor.

Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN