“Recent reports in the press of presidential authorization for the National Security Agency to intercept international communications between foreign powers hostile to the United States and individuals who may be their agents in this country raise factual and legal questions that Congress should examine as it continues its existing oversight role,” write James Jay Carafano, Todd Gaziano and Alane Kochems.

“The Administration should continue its full cooperation with Congress so that Americans are assured that their government is doing everything possible to protect them from terrorists and safeguard their liberties,” they continue.

“Congress’s intelligence committees should continue to exercise oversight over the NSA’s activities and undertake what investigations they feel are necessary to ensure that the program is carried out in a way that efficiently and effectively protects Americans while safeguarding their liberties.”

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Read Domestic Surveillance: Dual Priorities, National Security and Civil Liberties, Must Be Met by James Jay Carafano, Todd Gaziano, and Alane Kochems

This week marks the anniversary of the tsunami disaster which struck large sections of Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa on December 26, 2004. The tsunami claimed some 231,000 lives and displaced 2 million people. The disaster prompted an outpouring of humanitarian help from around the world, with an estimated total of $13.6 billion in aid pledged, including $6.16 billion in government assistance, $2.3 billion from international financial institutions, and $5.1 billion from individuals and companies.

On November 15, advocates of a fiscally responsible federal budget thought they had won an important battle in the war against wasteful spending when Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) announced that he would strike earmarks for two bridges in Alaska. Slated to receive nearly $500 billion in taxpayer money, the bridge projects had become symbols of congressional profligacy and were the subjects of a wave of national ridicule that undermined Congress’s credibility on fiscal matters. The $315 million bridge connecting the town of Ketchikan with Gravina Island was popularly dubbed the “Bridge to Nowhere” when it was reported that only 50 people lived on the island and that the Governor’s family owned land there.