House Judiciary Committee votes to ask administration for surveillance records News
House Judiciary Committee votes to ask administration for surveillance records

[JURIST] The US House Judiciary Committee [official website] passed a non-binding resolution [HRES 645 text] Wednesday asking the President and the Secretary of Defense to provide the House with information on the NSA domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive]. The resolution calls for:

all information in the possession of the President or the Secretary of Defense relating to the collection of intelligence information pertaining to persons inside the United States without obtaining court-ordered warrants authorizing the collection of such information and relating to the policy of the United States with respect to the gathering of counterterrorism intelligence within the United States.

While the President is not expected to comply with the resolution, its passage by the Republican-led Judiciary Committee is a reflection of ongoing legislative concern over a May USA Today report accusing the NSA of pressing phone companies to reveal millions of customer phone records without customer approval [JURIST report]. The resolution must be approved by the full House before it is submitted to the President. Reuters has more.