Security
Bush To Get Court's Permission For Domestic Spying
     The Bush administration this week announced that it would begin getting permission from a secret court charged with handling requests for surveillance warrants on U.S. soil. The National Security Agency's warrantless electronic eavesdropping program, which received considerable congressional scrutiny last year, must be renewed about every 45 days, but the administration has opted not to continue it as currently structured when it expires in about a month. The president is "committed to using all lawful tools to protect our nation from the terrorist threat," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in a letter to congressional leaders. Any electronic spying that has occurred under the covert program now will require the blessing of the court created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Gonzales said. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, called the action "welcome news, if long overdue." It proves that the eavesdropping has always been possible under the law, he said.

Civil Liberties
Accessing Of Bank Records Under Security Law Decried
     Civil libertarians want Congress to investigate the Pentagon's use of an anti-terrorism law to collect financial records of American citizens and those suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States. The New York Times reported that the Defense Department and CIA have been utilizing a special subpoena power built into the USA PATRIOT Act to scour bank and credit-card records. The provision is best known for allowing the FBI to search library and Internet service files without warrants and has been successfully challenged in court by the American Civil Liberties Union. Caroline Fredrickson, who heads the ACLU's Washington office, said the latest revelation raises a host of questions, including how often agencies use the authority and under what criteria. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said "any expansion by the department into intelligence collection, particularly on U.S. soil," will be reviewed thoroughly by his panel.

Civil Liberties
Gonzales Grilled Over Domestic Spying Changes
     Attorney General Alberto Gonzales took heat from the Senate Judiciary Committee about the federal government's domestic electronic eavesdropping program and the Pentagon's use of an anti-terrorism law to collect financial records of U.S. citizens. Gonzales remained guarded throughout a committee hearing and refused to answer a number of questions from Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., ranking Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and others. Specter said he wanted to know "why it took so long" for the administration to agree to let the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court review electronic spying requests. And Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said there are "far too many unanswered questions to say this issue has been resolved." He worried aloud that the administration could "turn [court review] off at will, particularly if you got a decision that you didn't want."

Security
Agency To Cut Number Of Names On 'No-Fly' List
     The chief of the Transportation Security Administration said his agency will cut in half the number of names on the government's "no-fly" list. The list has drawn public and congressional criticism over the years for containing generic and repetitive names, and causing inconvenience for innocent people. "To assure the accuracy of the no-fly list itself, we will shortly conclude a case-by-case review of every name," TSA Administrator Edmund (Kip) Hawley told the Senate Commerce Committee. "... [T]his effort will effectively cut the no-fly list in half." A TSA spokesman said it would be wrong to assume that half the names on the list were wrongly placed there. Hawley also said TSA plans to begin a new passenger pre-screening system called Secure Flight sometime in 2008.

Porn
Sen. Hatch Revives Calls For Study On Internet Porn
     Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he is willing to consider conducting a study of the state of pornography and child obscenity in the Internet age but thinks the Justice Department is quite active on that front already. The issue arose at a Senate hearing when Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, revived the call for a study because the last one was 21 years ago. Justice unveiled an obscenity prosecution task force in May 2005, and 52 obscenity convictions have been made since then, Gonzales said. A broad child-protection law enacted in July significantly boosted safeguards, he added. The legislation tightened rules for punishing and tracking sex offenders. Nevertheless, Gonzales said he is "still concerned about this issue and the threat to our children." He added that more resources are needed and a commission may be worth considering at some point.

Executive Branch
Martin's Goals At FCC Include Broadband And Video
     FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said his goals for 2007 are to increase wireless, high-speed Internet access and also competition in video services. In a news conference, he also said broadband deployment will remain a priority. Martin further said the commission will impose safeguards for communications consumers when needed, such as privacy protections, access to 911 emergency service, and limits on the fees that wireless carriers may charge for early termination of cellular contracts. "I think the commission has a strong track record [of] taking steps to promote consumer interests," Martin said. The FCC plans to look at the possibility of a broadband public-safety network. "During an emergency, that will be critical," Martin said. He also said competition can address some existing problems in the communications market but added that "the commission won't be afraid to step in when the market isn't addressing its needs."

Television
Official Is Noncommittal About TV Converter Subsidy
     The head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration was noncommittal about whether he will adopt changes to a $1.5 billion federal initiative designed to ease the nation's transition to digital television. "My responsibility is to execute the program according to the statute," John Kneuer said in response to a question about whether alterations are needed to further protect consumers. The effort would give citizens vouchers to defray the costs of digital-to-analog converter boxes necessary to keep analog sets from going dark after the switch to digital signals. The general framework is defined by law and cannot be modified, Kneuer said. But the agency can tweak operational details addressed by Democrats in a Nov. 15 letter to him. The letter said the lawmakers "believe this plan is highly flawed and disadvantages the poor, the elderly, minority groups and those with multiple analog television sets in their homes."

Health
Tech Group Donates Electronic Prescription Tool
     A coalition of technology companies and healthcare groups is donating an Internet-based e-prescription tool to all U.S. physicians in the hopes of jumpstarting the use of healthcare information technology. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga, repeated his trademark slogan "paper kills" at a news conference where the initiative was unveiled. "You can use every complex, sophisticated analysis you want," he said, but the fact is that "a paper prescription is dangerous." The new eRx Now offering allows physicians to join at www.nationalerx.com. The goal is to provide "safe, simple, secure and free e-prescribing to every physician in America," said Nancy Dickey, a former president of the American Medical Association.