国会记录：2006年2月17日（参议院）第S1457-S1458美国公民伯德先生窃听。主席先生，在2005年12月17日，他的广播讲话中，美国总统布什透露，2001年9月11日以后，他授权国家安全局，国家安全局，承接美国公民的窃听，试图阻止恐怖袭击。总统认为，他的行动，用他的话说，'他的宪法职责`完全一致'。总统错误地断言 - 先生。President, the President wrongly asserted--that his authority to order warrantless electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens on American soil is supported by his inherent Presidential powers and the joint congressional resolution that authorized the use of force after September 11. A huge swath--a huge swath--of America, including many expert legal minds, does not--I say, does not--agree [[Page S1458]] with the arguments put forth by the administration. These arguments are transparently contrived, intellectually deficient, indefensible excuses being served up like tripe to silence legitimate criticism of the White House. Let me say that again. A huge swath of America, including many expert legal minds, does not agree with the arguments put forth by the administration. These arguments are transparently contrived, intellectually deficient, indefensible excuses being served up like tripe to silence legitimate criticism of the White House, a White House so infused with its own hubris that it has talked itself into believing that its inhabitants are above the law. But they are not. They are not above the law. President Bush is not above the law. No President is above the law. No United States Senator is above the law. No man is above the law. No one in the United States of America is above the law. Remember, this is a nation of laws, not of men. Yesterday, the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence jettisoned its constitutional responsibility to make certain that our laws are not being breached, and that the spirit and text of our revered Constitution remain in force. It is a sad day, indeed, to see such an important committee wilt under political pressure applied by the Vice President in partisan meetings held behind closed doors. The committee adjourned last night without considering a Democratic proposal to begin an investigation of the warrantless spying program, even though Senator Jay Rockefeller, the vice-chairman of the Intelligence Committee, had been assured that his proposal would receive a vote. I want to commend my colleague, Senator Rockefeller. He has worked hard to protect the people's liberties, to make sure that this administration, even in its most secret circles, follows the law and the Constitution. It has not been an easy task, but it is one that Senator Rockefeller has carried diligently. Like Senator Rockefeller, I will not sit idly by and allow the President's possible breaking of the law to be swept under the rug. I refuse to go quietly into the night, abdicating my responsibility as a U.S. Senator to a secretive executive branch, which refuses to brief the Congress of the United States on its clandestine spying on U.S. citizens without a warrant--an administration that believes it can, on its own, nullify constitutional provisions intended to protect the freedoms of millions of Americans for over 200 years. This travesty must not stand. The peeping and snooping and spying must be investigated. I am today announcing my intention to submit to the Congress legislation that will establish a nonpartisan, independent, 9-11-style commission to investigate and determine the legality of the President's actions. There is a critical need for a thorough investigation of all domestic surveillance programs. As I stated on Wednesday in my remarks on this subject, we, the American people--not just the NSA or the White House--have a legitimate need to know what is being done, by whom, and to whom. If there is a justifiable and valid reason to surveil a potential terrorist in the U.S., we certainly can find a way to do it legally. If there is a need to provide more efficient tools to fight terror, Congress has the responsibility to deliberate and, if warranted, to approve them. The President should ask Congress for them; not seize new powers that have never been enumerated by any U.S. court. Congress would be pleased to entertain his request, as we have in the past, by updating FISA and the PATRIOT Act, but not--I repeat, not-- before a full investigation to determine if laws have been broken--an investigation which will give members a fuller understanding of just what these surveillance programs entail. A little sunshine on this process is long overdue. Congress cannot fix what the White House does not want us to fully understand. Congress needs to know if the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or any other U.S. law has been broken, and whether the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans have been violated without cause. It is essential that Congress obtain the answers to these questions, not for partisan political reasons, but because our system of checks and balances requires it. James Madison advised in Federalist 47 that: the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. The assumption of power by an unchecked executive, who arrogantly believes that he can seize the authority to spy on innocent Americans and wantonly violate the fourth amendment is the beginning of the tyranny Madison so feared. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the fourth amendment of the Constitution be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: U.S. Constitution: Fourth Amendment The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particu1arly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sununu). Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________