Senator Feinstein on the Specter NSA Bill

September 27, 2006


Mr. Edward Shelton


Dear Mr. Shelton:

Thank you for writing to me about Senator
Specter's proposed changes to the proposed National
Security Surveillance Act of 2006. I welcome the
opportunity to respond.

As a member of both the Senate Intelligence and
Judiciary Committees, I have been briefed on the
operational details of the electronic surveillance program.
It is my belief that the program could and should be
conducted in accordance with the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA).

I do not support Senator Specter's legislation in its
current form.

Senator Specter's proposal would eliminate the
current individual warrant approach that has been used
by the FISA court for electronic surveillance for more
than 25 years, and replace it with a "program" warrant
approach that has never been tried. His bill also removes
the current exclusivity of FISA, in effect endorsing the
President's decision to gather intelligence outside of the
laws we have enacted. Finally, Senator Specter's
legislation makes many far-reaching changes to the
existing FISA statute in ways that have not been
adequately examined.

I have worked with Senator Specter separately to
introduce different legislation so that all content
collection of electronic surveillance for foreign
intelligence purposes is conducted within the existing
FISA framework. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Improvement and Enhancement Act of 2006, S. 3001,
has been endorsed by the American Bar Association. My
bill would restate that FISA is the exclusive authority for
content collection, mandate that no federal funds be spent
on such activities that do not comply with FISA, and
eliminate administrative roadblocks that the Attorney
General says hinder his ability to bring cases directly to
the FISA court. I believe this option is substantially
more desirable than the bill drafted by Senator Specter in
coordination with the Administration.

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
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