Finally, some leadership on privacy. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is making the privacy rights of the American people a major concern according to Reuters:
We have a duty to repair real damage done to our system of government over the last few years," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in outlining his panel's agenda for the 110th, Democratic-led Congress, which is set to convene on January 4.The Associated Press reports that Leahy is also going to hold hearings on Iraq in his committee:
"Americans' privacy is a price the Bush administration is willing to pay for the cavalier way it is spawning new databanks. But privacy rights belong to the people, not to the government," Leahy said.
Justice Department officials can expect stepped-up oversight of the Bush administration's war on terrorism and _ perhaps _ some all-expense-paid tickets to Iraq to help train the corrupt police force there, the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says.The Bush team has a lot of explaining to do. Leahy's going to make them explain.
Sen. Patrick Leahy's agenda includes a look at about a dozen recommendations by the Iraq Study Group to send law enforcement officials from the FBI and other offices in the Justice Department to the war-torn nation to boost a police force riddled with corruption. Leahy noted that over the weekend that Iraqi police allegedly helped Saddam Hussein's nephew, Ayman Sabawi, escape from a prison near Mosul.
Senate hearings on Iraq and privacy. Imagine that. Having the majority is just so much better.
