A little history and a little law are needed in the wake of the current uproar over the re-discovery that the National Security Agency has been vacuuming up telephone records of Americans and e-mails, phone messages and other Web data related to suspected overseas terrorists.
Let's start with a bit of history. Forty-three years ago, the staff director and counsel of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, set up by then-Chairman J.W. Fulbright, an Arkansas Democrat, traveled the world gathering facts as part of an investigation of military involvement in U.S. foreign policy. They visited NSA listening posts in Europe and Asia, and interviewed those who ran the facilities.
They were surprised at the data being collected, not just overheard communications but also cables and intercepts from satellites. Using their information, the committee called the NSA director, Vice Adm. Noel Gayler, to testify in closed session. He refused to discuss his agency's operations on grounds that only Senate and House Armed Services subcommittees dealing with intelligence matters could get such testimony.