Senator Frist:
I have in my possession a letter sent by you to Senator Reid on March 3, 2006, regarding changing the Senate Intelligence Committee membership to increase the Republican and decrease the Democratic representation of the committee.
As a Knoxville resident, I am shocked, stunned, and appalled by your duplicitous attempt to stack the Senate Intelligence Committee with a Republican majority. In spite of the `spin' in your letter, it is obvious that the only purpose of this radical change to the composition of the Intelligence Committee is to block an honest inquiry into the illegal wiretapping activity of the Bush Administration.
More below ---
I want the current Intelligence Committee to investigate the President's wiretap program because I think the President broke the law, and his actions undermine the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Whether one supports the wiretap program or not, or whether one thinks the program is legal or not, the NSA warrantless spying program is controversial to most Americans. It is because of that controversy that all Americans deserve fair hearings to know what exactly this administration is doing.
This need to investigate the program is made even more urgent by the fact that Attorney General Gonzales recently suggested in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that there might be more spying the administration has admitted to. In a March 1, 2006, story in the Washington Post, the AG said, "I did not and could not address . . . any other classified intelligence activities." (Using the administration's term for the recently disclosed operation, he continued,) "I was confining my remarks to the Terrorist Surveillance Program as described by the President, the legality of which was the subject" (of the Feb. 6 hearing).
I need not remind you, the Congress is a separate and equal branch of government, and has the duty to prevent the executive from exceeding its authority. I do not want the Intelligence Committee or the Senate to be a rubber stamp for illegal wiretapping or for unchecked Presidential power.
I am discussing your letter with my friends, family, and will be bringing this to the attention of the media in East Tennessee.
Senator Frist, I am alarmed by the sweeping, almost absolute power George Bush claims he has. The President should not have the power equal to a dictator in a police state.
At the same time, I am increasingly dismayed by what seems to be the Republican Party's willingness to assist the President in undermining the rule of law. The Republicans must not put their narrow party interests above the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Sincerely