ACLU Comment Ahead of President’s Friday NSA Speech
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
NEW YORK – President Obama is not planning to change the core of the NSA’s bulk surveillance programs, according to a report today in The New York Times.
Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, had this comment:
“President Obama’s speech on Friday will not only determine the direction of national security policies and programs, but also define his civil liberties legacy. If the speech is anything like what is being reported, the president will go down in history for having retained and defended George W. Bush’s surveillance programs rather than reformed them.
“Keeping the storage of all Americans’ data in government hands and asking ‘lawmakers to weigh in,’ as reported, is passing the buck – when the buck should stop with the president. If Congress fails to act on this matter, as it has on other critical policy issues, President Obama will effectively be handing off a treasure trove of all our private data to succeeding presidents – whether it is Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, or Hillary Clinton.”
More information on NSA spying is at:
aclu.org/nsa-surveillance
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