Tag Archives: Congress
Intelligence Community Oversight: The “Reforming Congress” Angle
The Sunlight Foundation and dozens of other groups today issued a letter to House leadership and a proposal with dozens of suggested/needed reforms to how Congress conducts oversight of the Intelligence Community. The proposed reforms are thoughtful, eminently reasonable, well … Continue reading
The Dark Night Of The American Soul
It was inevitable. Polling on the Senate torture report, that is, in this case from Pew. Here’s the key graphic: Just a reminder to everyone: torture is a crime under U.S. law. No exceptions, period. Would have loved to see Pew … Continue reading
Intel Authorization Bill Would EXPAND Surveillance Against Americans
Below is the full text of the Dear Colleague circulated this afternoon by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI): Block New Spying on U.S. Citizens: Vote “NO” on H.R. 4681 Dear Colleague: The intelligence reauthorization bill, which the House will vote on … Continue reading
NSA Reform: When 293 Votes Is Not A Majority
Late this afternoon, I was informed that the only NSA reform measure to pass either chamber of Congress this year–the Lofgren/Massie amendment to the FY15 DoD approps bill–is being stripped out of that bill as part of the House-Senate deal … Continue reading
Udall, The Torture Report and The Pentagon Papers Option
Shortly after Colorado Senator Mark Udall lost his reelection bid to Rep. Cory Gardner, it began–first as conversations among civil liberties activists, then in media outlets, and finally Udall himself raised the possibility: on his way out of the Senate, … Continue reading
Surveillance Reform: House Mid-term Election Impact Update
While seven House races remain undecided, what we do know is that seven House members who voted for the Massie/Lofgren/Holt NSA surveillance reform amendment to the FY15 DoD appropriations bill were defeated on election night. They are Shea-Porter (NH-1), Garcia … Continue reading
NSA Reform Legislation Update
I’ll withhold final judgement on the pending Conyers-Sensenbrenner bill until I see the bill text, but here’s a reality check based on the summary provided thus far by the bill’s authors and some accounts online: Conyers-Sensenbrenner would leave the Surveillance … Continue reading
Richard Cohen’s Edward Snowden Assessment, Revised
You can read his column here. Being both a former CIA analyst-turned-whistleblower-turned-Hill staffer, my background–and my sense of the history of these things–lead me to offer the following: The only traitors in this episode are executive branch officials who knowingly … Continue reading
Where I Was On 9/11 [BOOK EXCERPT]
I rolled over and looked at the clock: 8:55 a.m. I’d called into work about an hour earlier, leaving a voicemail that I wouldn’t be in that day. The scratchy throat I’d felt the night before had grown much worse … Continue reading
The Drone Wars
Text of my remarks (as prepared) for the anti-drone war event sponsored by the BuxMont Chapter of the Coalition for Peace Action: The Drone WarsBy Patrick G. Eddington BuxMont Coalition for Peace ActionBuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship,2040 W. … Continue reading
Long Strange Journey 