Date: Tue, 29  Apr  2003 11:51:54 -0400
From: "The American Civil Liberties Union" <belmonte@MIT.EDU>
To: "The American Civil Liberties Union" <belmonte@mit.edu>
Subject: oppose S.113, A Bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978

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Message sent to the following recipients:
Sen. Kennedy
Sen. Kerry
Message text follows:

Matthew Belmonte
[address]


April 29, 2003

[recipient address was inserted here]


 [recipient name was inserted here],

I urge you to oppose the Kyl-Schumer bill  (S 113) 
and to support the Feinstein amendment.   The Kyl-Schumer legislation is 
not only unnecessary and unconstitutional -- it will also not make us any 
safer from terrorism.

The Congressional investigation of the House and Senate intelligence 
committees into the 11 September attacks did not find a problem with the 
legal authority to collect intelligence information.  Instead, it 
discerned a number of structural breakdowns in the intelligence community 
prior to 11 September.  Expanding the government's surveillance powers 
does nothing to address such problems of internal communication.
 
By redefining the phrase "agents of a foreign power" in the Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) so that its meaning includes 
individuals within the United States, the Kyl-Schumer bill invites 
violations of the Fourth Amendment in cases where the government lacks 
probable cause for searches and surveillance.

In a February 2003 report on FISA oversight, Senators Patrick Leahy 
(D-VT), Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) noted that the 
Department of Justice was unable to provide even a single case that 
explained why new wiretapping power of this type was needed.    This bill 
is a legal fix to an essentially bureaucratic problem in the intelligence 
agencies. It would not improve national security -- it would only infringe 
on privacy rights. 
 
Once again, I urge you to oppose the Kyl-Schumer bill (S 113) and to 
support the Feinstein amendment. 
 
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Sincerely,


Matthew Belmonte