Comment Of Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On DOJ’s Data Mining Report
July 10, 2007

“This report raises more questions than it answers and demonstrates just how dramatically the Bush Administration has expanded the use of this technology, often in secret, to collect and sift through Americans’ most sensitive personal information.  Unfortunately, the Congress and the American public know very little about these and other data mining programs, making them ripe for abuse.

“The report, filed four months after it was due, is an important and all too rare ray of sunshine on the Department’s data mining activities and provides Congress with an opportunity to conduct meaningful oversight of this powerful technological tool.  I look forward to thoroughly examining the findings in this report with the Attorney General and the FBI Director in the coming weeks.”

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