Our unserious Senate, our unserious press

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The transcript of the President’s radio address today Saturday (emphasis mine):

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

As President, I took an oath to defend the Constitution, and I have no greater responsibility than to protect our people, our freedom, and our way of life. On September the 11th, 2001, our freedom and way of life came under attack by brutal enemies who killed nearly 3,000 innocent Americans. We’re fighting these enemies across the world. Yet in this first war of the 21st century, one of the most critical battlefronts is the home front. And since September the 11th, we’ve been on the offensive against the terrorists plotting within our borders.

One of the first actions we took to protect America after our nation was attacked was to ask Congress to pass the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act tore down the legal and bureaucratic wall that kept law enforcement and intelligence authorities from sharing vital information about terrorist threats. And the Patriot Act allowed federal investigators to pursue terrorists with tools they already used against other criminals. Congress passed this law with a large, bipartisan majority, including a vote of 98-1 in the United States Senate.

Since then, America’s law enforcement personnel have used this critical law to prosecute terrorist operatives and supporters, and to break up terrorist cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia, California, Texas and Ohio. The Patriot Act has accomplished exactly what it was designed to do: it has protected American liberty and saved American lives.

Yet key provisions of this law are set to expire in two weeks. The terrorist threat to our country will not expire in two weeks. The terrorists want to attack America again, and inflict even greater damage than they did on September the 11th. Congress has a responsibility to ensure that law enforcement and intelligence officials have the tools they need to protect the American people.

The House of Representatives passed reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Yet a minority of senators filibustered to block the renewal of the Patriot Act when it came up for a vote yesterday. That decision is irresponsible, and it endangers the lives of our citizens. The senators who are filibustering must stop their delaying tactics, and the Senate must vote to reauthorize the Patriot Act. In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment.

To fight the war on terror, I am using authority vested in me by Congress, including the Joint Authorization for Use of Military Force, which passed overwhelmingly in the first week after September the 11th. I’m also using constitutional authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief. In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations. Before we intercept these communications, the government must have information that establishes a clear link to these terrorist networks.

This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against the United States, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.

As the 9/11 Commission pointed out, it was clear that terrorists inside the United States were communicating with terrorists abroad before the September the 11th attacks, and the commission criticized our nation’s inability to uncover links between terrorists here at home and terrorists abroad. Two of the terrorist hijackers who flew a jet into the Pentagon, Nawaf al Hamzi and Khalid al Mihdhar, communicated while they were in the United States to other members of al Qaeda who were overseas. But we didn’t know they were here, until it was too late.

The authorization I gave the National Security Agency after September the 11th helped address that problem in a way that is fully consistent with my constitutional responsibilities and authorities. The activities I have authorized make it more likely that killers like these 9/11 hijackers will be identified and located in time. And the activities conducted under this authorization have helped detect and prevent possible terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad.

The activities I authorized are reviewed approximately every 45 days. Each review is based on a fresh intelligence assessment of terrorist threats to the continuity of our government and the threat of catastrophic damage to our homeland. During each assessment, previous activities under the authorization are reviewed. The review includes approval by our nation’s top legal officials, including the Attorney General and the Counsel to the President. I have reauthorized this program more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks, and I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups.

The NSA’s activities under this authorization are thoroughly reviewed by the Justice Department and NSA’s top legal officials, including NSA’s general counsel and inspector general. Leaders in Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this authorization and the activities conducted under it. Intelligence officials involved in this activity also receive extensive training to ensure they perform their duties consistent with the letter and intent of the authorization. This authorization is a vital tool in our war against the terrorists. It is critical to saving American lives. The American people expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution to protect them and their civil liberties. And that is exactly what I will continue to do, so long as I’m the President of the United States.

Thank you.

Two stories were top of the news yesterday: the Senate filibustering the Patriot Act (Broken link, active December 22, 2005), and the New York Times story that the President authorized secret taps on international calls of persons with suspected ties to al Qaeda. The President addressed both issues today.

The truth is, the Patriot Act has not been used in connection with a single violation of someone’s Constitutional civil liberties since its inception. Not one. If it is the terror to the Bill of Rights these filibustering Senators claim it is, then where is the proof? The ACLU stands ever-ready to sue; where is the evidence, where are the charges?

Time to call our Senators, and tell them to get serious about national security in the middle of a war, and get over the “doesn’t play well with others” kindergarten syndrome they seem to have about this President. The Senate is supposed to be for statesmen, let alone grown-ups.

And it seems the New York Times blasted classified knowledge all over its front pages while the nation is at war and we have soldiers in harm’s way, in order to influence the Senate vote. That used to be called sedition, and it used to be illegal in war time. That’s bad enough, but there’s more: it seems they timed the story to coincide with the release of a book by the very same reporter who “broke” Friday’s news.

Has the New York Times given enough aid and comfort to the enemy yet?
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Update: Why this matters (Broken link, active December 22, 2005).
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12/18 Update: replied to comments, and added the sentence about sedition, second-to-last paragraph.
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12/19 Update: Is the New York Times as aghast at the Clinton administration’s NSA unwarranted surveillance? I thought not.
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12/20 Update: It turns out the NSA surveillance did indeed undergo judicial review. NRO discusses why Bush approved the wiretaps, and also weighs in on the Clinton adminstration’s use of unwarranted wiretaps.
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12/21 Update: Okay, now this is funny, and so is this.
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12/21 Update: Oh boy. More on the Left’s civil rights hypocrisy.
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12/21 Update: NRO’s editorial on the filibustering of the Patriot Act, and the NSA wiretap kerfuffle: September 10 America.
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12/21 Update: The legal experts over at Powerline post the exchange they had with the New York Times about the wiretap story. The wiretaps are legal (Broken link, active December 22, 2005) and have been under judicial review, and the New York Times knew they were legal and under judicial review, but the paper of (broken) record breathlessly reported the story as if the taps were illegal. Very interesting exchange. I am waiting for the comments on how bothersome it is that the New York Times publishes misleading information as fact in order to sell books.
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12/21 Update: Ann Coulter on the wiretap kerfuffle. Warning: do not drink while reading.
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12/22 Update: Senate passes 6-month Patriot Act extension.