Democrats: Delay spy satellite expansion

Top Democrats on a congressional Homeland Security Committee have formally asked the Bush administration to place a "moratorium" on new plans to make detailed satellite images available to a wider range of government agencies.

The move, in the form of letter released Thursday evening, arrived after a lengthy hearing about the topic on earlier that day.

In the letter, House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and subcommittee chairpeople Jane Harman (D-Calif.) and Christopher Carney (D-Pa.) said the day's testimony from Department of Homeland Security officials and the planned program's head, Charles Allen, "made clear that there is effectively no legal framework governing the domestic use of satellite imagery for the various purposes envisioned by the department."

At issue is a plan, first revealed in mid-August by The Wall Street Journal, to launch, within the Department of Homeland Security, a new subset called the National Applications Office (NAO) by October 1. The NAO is described as a "clearinghouse" for a broader set of requests--particularly by law enforcement, border security and other domestic homeland security agencies--to tap into powerful satellites that have mostly collected data for scientific or military purposes in the past. The idea grew out of a panel convened by the Director of National Intelligence after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The House Democrats asked the department to submit a number of documents outlining the legal framework that will govern the program and how the government will ensure privacy and civil liberties are protected--particularly when requests come in from state and local police to gain access to the images. Until committee members receive and are able to review the information thoroughly, "we cannot and will not support the expanded use of satellite imagery," the Democrats wrote.

At Thursday's hearing, Allen and others defended the program as an important security tool and adequately privacy-protective, and Allen indicated he would not delay its start date.

Update at 6:35 a.m. PDT: In a telephone interview with CNET News.com, Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke avoided commenting directly on whether the department plans to grant the "moratorium" request. "We're going to provide very timely responses to any questions the committee might have, and we believe with that information, the committee will be satisfied," he said.

[fafafooey]

Will the terrorists postpone their operations while we figure this out?

It's deja vu all over again.

The 9/11 commission showed how the various government agencies didn't share information and communicate and couldn't put the "dots together".

Now they are preventing that from happening again.

Then the Democrats will complain about it if we get hit again.

But well just get more Democrat cheerleading from CNet.

[pmfjoe]

Treasonous I Tell you.

These darn Democrats, how dare they question our great exhaulted leader, actually how dare anyone question him or the bureaucracy! Anyone who does should be jailed for treason because they are showing weakness an this will only entice Al Qaeda!

[Dalkorian]

dizzy yet?

Wow. You've swallowed all the spin, hook, line and sinker didn't
you. Does it make you feel dizzy yet?

Take a step back. Take a deep breath. Now open your eyes and
take another look with an open mind. Does any of this mess
make any sense?

- We're currently arresting and torturing people simply on the
grounds that they have had terrorist training in PAKISTAN. Yet
we're waging war in IRAQ, where there were NO TERRORISTS
until after we showed up, and we still steadfastly refuse to
invade Pakistan where the supposed problem is (unless you
don't consider Bin Laden and his terrorist training camps to be a
problem).

- We are unable to locate one ********** running around on top
of a mountain (apparently we weren't able ... smart enough? ...
to surround the mountain, so we gave him a huge back door to
escape instead), but we're able to find another **********
hiding in a hole in the ground in the middle of a desert.

- Iran and North Korea are thumbing their noses at the entire
world, building (or trying to build) nuclear weapons in spite of
the world's concerns. Remind me where we're fighting again?
Better yet, remind me of the *ORIGINAL* reasons for the
invasion, not the current spin that's placed on it now (hint: do
the terms "WMD", "attempting to buy nukes from Africa" and
"contributed to the 9/11 attacks" ring any bells? Note how much
truth we've discovered in all those reasons).

- This administration *KNEW* terrorists were here, they were
watching them. They *KNEW* they were taking commercial flying
lessons in Florida. Bush even had a PDB entitled "Bin Laden plans
to attack U.S" which specifically mentioned using commercial
aircraft as weapons. But gee, they had no idea 9/11 would
happen, even though Bush made his way to Florida that day to
read to school children until all the attacks were over.

I could go on, but I shouldn't have to. Let's take another look at
your original question:

"Will the terrorists postpone their operations while we figure this
out?"

Considering the true terrorists are currently hiding in the White
House, they better. Considering their contempt for the law and
our great Constitution though, I doubt it.

[fred dunn]

No, they'll just get an image from a friend....

That has unchecked access to the satellite imagery at issue. Are you naive enough to think that everybody in Law Enforcement is of the "straight and narrow"?
Law enforcement is composed of human beings which are prone to abusing the data that they have access to.
If you don't believe me then if you have a friend that is in Law Enforcement ask them to give you a reverse lookup of a telephone number or have them lookup a friends address that has an unlisted number. Chances are they will give it to you. Why? Because they have access to the reverse 911 system. Or check with a private investigator where they get their information from, nost are retired law enforcement with friends still on the inside.
So the images you are so willing to let everyone in Law Enforcement have without a checks and balances system may wind up in terrorists hands.