DETROIT – The ACLU of Michigan has joined a coalition of more than 20 organizations nationwide in opposition of the illegal spying program conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA). Executive Director of the ACLU of Michigan, Kary L. Moss and Noel Saleh of the Arab Community Center for Economic & Social Services visited with Senators Levin and Stabenow to urge Congress to launch a comprehensive inquiry into the wiretapping of innocent Americans.
“The rule of law has been broken, and Congress must investigate,” said Moss. “We, the American people, have the right to know if our privacy is being violated. It’s alarming that the NSA is monitoring Americans without court order. There needs to be an outside check to ensure that privacy rights of law abiding citizens are not violated and the sensitive data of millions of Americans are safe and secure. We hope Senators Levin and Stabenow will heed the call of their concerned constituents.”
It was also recently revealed by the media that the NSA has collected millions of phone records without court warrants from AT&T and other telecommunications companies to create a mega-database while under General Hayden’s leadership
“Congress must investigate the Bush administration’s domestic spying program in order to restore our government’s system of checks and balances,” said Moss.
The coalition includes the following organizations: Alliance for Justice, American Civil Liberties Union, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Bill of Rights Defense Fund, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Center for Democracy and Technology, Council on American Islamic Relations, federation of American Scientists, First Amendment Foundation, National Coalition Against Repressive Legislation, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Liberty Coalition, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Muslim Advocates, People for the American Way, Privacy Activism, Union for Reform Judaism, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Unitarian Universalist Association, US Bill of Rights Foundation.