Congress Panel Hears Testimony Regarding Warrantless Wire Tapping Program

The Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties held a hearing Thursday regarding the National Security Agency's wiretapping program. The wiretapping program allows the agency, which has authorization from President George W. Bush, to use wiretaps without obtaining a warrant.

The panel heard testimony from the American Civil Liberties Union, according to a press release on the ACLU's website. The rights group claims that the program is unconstitutional.

The director of the ACLU Washington office had this to say about the program: "Americans deserve to know the extent of this program. When it comes to giving the public answers, the administration has been dragging its feet and stonewalling for over a year now. Finally, the tide is turning. We're optimistic in the wake of Congress' effort to get to the bottom of this unconstitutional program. We must not lose momentum," according to the ACLU's press release.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the government in 2006. The agency represented a group of journalists, scholars, attorneys, and individuals who disagreed with the NSA's warrantless tapping of phone calls and emails. The government alleged that court action on the case would force the disclosure of national secrets, and asked that the case be dismissed.

The government's request was denied and in 2006 a judge, Anna Diggs Taylor, ruled that the wire tapping program was unconstitutional because it violated the First and Fourth amendments and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

According to the ACLU, Taylor wrote the following statements in her ruling: "It was never the intent of the Framers to give the President such unfettered control, particularly where his actions blatantly disregard the parameters clearly enumerated in the Bill of Rights."