Censure sense

by Andrew Swift, DI editorial writer

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis, has called for censuring President Bush for his National Security Agency wiretapping program. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, was the first senator to express support for censure, and is one of only two who have co-sponsored the bill (Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is the other). Harkin's principled stand, so unfortunately rare among congressional leaders, is in defense of the sanctity of the American republic, and I wholeheartedly applaud it.

The "mainstream" media have ignorantly focused on the question of wiretapping suspected terrorists. You'd be hard-pressed to find a person opposed to the idea, and neither Feingold nor Harkin is one of them. Rather, the issue is Bush's acknowledgement that he authorized the NSA to eavesdrop on Americans and other persons inside the United States without a court order, as mandated by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Subchapter I, Section 1809(a) of the act states: "A person is guilty of an offense if he intentionally ... engages in electronic surveillance under color of law except as authorized by statute." Bush's eager acknowledgement that he authorized these wiretaps leads to the conclusion that our president is a criminal. This is not a matter of politics or ideology. At stake is the accountability of our elected officials to follow the rule of law. No person in our country is above the law.

Spin doctors and propagandists argue that, for "national-security" purposes, the president should not have to wait idly for a warrant before engaging in necessary surveillance. FISA itself makes provisions for this argument: If wiretapping is so urgently and immediately needed that a court order could not be received in time, it is allowed - if a court order is retroactively received within a 72-hour window.

Congress, as an institution, has an obligation to the law and the Constitution. Bush's program compromises the rule of law in this country and makes Congress nothing more than a rubber-stamp under the power of a unitary executive. Amending FISA to allow these wiretaps, as "moderate" Senate Republicans are proposing, ignores the fact: The president broke the law, and he must be held accountable. Harkin's backing of Feingold's motion to censure shows at least one Iowa Senator still wishes to uphold the law.