Speakers at the 16th annual review of National Security Law, held
November 30-December 1, 2006, in Washington, D.C., addressed topics
ranging from accountability for actions by private security contractors
on the battlefield to civil litigation against terrorists and their
bankers. Approximately 440 lawyers attended the conference, which was
sponsored by the ABA Committee on Law and National Security, by the
Center for National Security Law at the University of Virginia School
of Law, and by the Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security at Duke
University School of Law. Conference materials, which include several
insightful papers, are available online.
In
a speech at the conference, Representative Jane Harmon, the out-going
ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, described
Congressional efforts to get executive branch officials to brief the
members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committee about the NSA’s
domestic surveillance program. A video and audio copy of her remarks is
available online.
She said that only after the Senate Intelligence Committee threatened
to delay confirmation hearings regarding General Michael Hayden’s
nomination to serve as CIA Director did executive officials agree to
brief the Intelligence Committees about the NSA program. Ibid. at 15:30
Having received the classified briefing about the NSA program
earlier this year, Representative Harmon said “As one of the few people
outside the White House and NSA briefed into this program, I assure you
that the program can be conducted pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act.” Id. at 15:51. Given that Representative Harmon has
heard classified details about the NSA program that the Bush
Administration has refused to disclose publicly, including in the
dozens of pending lawsuits challenging the NSA program, her assertion
that program could be conducted within FISA constraints is important.
It directly contradicts the Administration’s claims that the NSA cannot
run the program in a manner that complies with FISA.
[Privacy and Security Law Blog]
