WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior Member of the Homeland Security Committee and co-Chairman of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, today issued the following statement in response to the release of a report by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General on FBI misuse of the process for handling National Security Letters.

“The Inspector General’s report is a scathing critique of FBI misuse of the secretive process used to obtain sensitive personal information about individuals, including U.S. citizens, such as telephone records, e-mails, and other personal information.  Tracking terrorists and thwarting attacks is absolutely essential, but when the FBI short-circuits legal processes that are supposed to provide enhanced terror-fighting tools without trampling Americans’ civil liberties, the Bureau undermines confidence in our legal system and may ensnare innocent Americans in terrorism investigations.

“Congress should hold public oversight hearings to examine the full extent of the FBI’s violations of the National Security Letter process and determine whether changes to the law are required to prevent such violations in the future. 

“The Bush Administration has a disturbing record of consistently circumventing the legal protections Congress has put in place to protect the public – undertaking a domestic spying program at the NSA without following the FISA process, sifting through financial records, and now, abusing National Security Letter authorities expanded in the USA PATRIOT Act.  Now is the time to apply the necessary strong oversight to this process, which has been absent during Republican control of Congress."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2007

CONTACT: Vikrum Aiyer
David Moulton
202.225.2836