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PRISM Politics Links

Bipartisan support for PRISM is overwhelming. Congress definitively supports the status quo.

Finally, our polarized political leaders have found their bipartisan spirit. Lloyd Green on why members of Congress from both sides of the aisle like government data mining. The center lives. Bipartisanship is not dead, as Democratic and Republican congressional leaders rally around the National Security Agency’s big data grab. With the exception of op-ed writers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Pauls—Rand and Ron—Washington’s establishment is standing together with the administration. In this scrum, party is secondary, at least on Capitol Hill. In a show of unity virtually unseen since 9/11, the congressional leadership has come out unanimously in support of the status quo, while deflecting allegations that The Guardian’s news story was actually news. According to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, senators who complain about being left in the dark have only themselves to blame, and all other Americans should sit down and shut up.

But can you really blame Congress for its reluctance to challenge the president or the very legal rubric that Congress itself enacted? As Peggy Noonan put it, “The thing political figures fear most is a terror event that will ruin their careers. The biggest thing they fear is that a bomb goes off and it can be traced to something they did or didn’t do, an action they did or didn’t support.”

The American public supports PRISM as critical to fight terrorism after 9-11.

Green, ’13 [Lloyd, former attorney in the Justice Department, “Prism and the NSA: Something Congress Can Agree On,” The Daily Beast, June 6, 2013, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/16/prism-and-the-nsa-something-congress-can-agree-on.html]

Meanwhile, Americans are not demanding that the administration stop doing whatever it is doing. Public opinion is ambivalent, not adamant, with conflicting polls delivering contrary messages. According to a joint Washington Post–Pew Research Center poll, 56 percent find the NSA’s telephone tracking program to be acceptable, while two in five disagree. Still, a later Gallup poll showed a majority of the public opposed to telephone and Internet tracking, with less than two fifths supportive. In other words, don’t expect much to change, insofar as 9/11 has changed everything where the threat of terror is concerned. Sen. Al Franken, by way of Harvard and SNL, tells us that Prism and the NSA are “not about spying on the American people.” Channeling his inner Stuart Smalley, Franken adds, “There are certain things that are appropriate for me to know that is not appropriate for the bad guys to know.”

There is bipartisan House support for continuing the current PRISM program.

Harris, ’13 [Bryant, reporter with Inter Press Service News. He has worked in Muscat, Oman and was a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. He graduated from UW-Madison in 2011 with a BA in Middle East Studies, “Amash Amendment: House PRISM Vote Shows GOP Hypocrisy in Action,” News.Mic, July 25, 2013, http://mic.com/articles/56539/amash-amendment-house-prism-vote-shows-gop-hypocrisy-in-action]

On Wednesday the House voted on an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have defunded the NSA’s PRISM program and ended its ability under the PATRIOT Act to collect phone records and metadata from individuals not under investigation. “Small government” Republicans teamed up with “liberal” Democrats to narrowly defeat Rep. Justin Amash’s (R-Mich.) amendment, 217-205. One hundred thirty-four Republicans voted “no” on the Amash amendment, as opposed to 83 Democrats. Although many of the Republican representatives who opposed the amendment constantly rail against the excesses of big government and actively oppose the Affordable Care Act on the grounds that it gives the federal government too much power, they have no problem giving President Barack Obama control and unlimited access to our phone records and metadata.

There is bipartisan Senate support for continuing the PRISM program.

Fischer-Zernin, ’13 [Maxime, Studying Political Science at Duke University (T. '15). His interests lie primarily in American national security and foreign policy. He is currently an Editor-at-Large for the Duke Political Review, and is a contributor for PolicyMic.com., “PRISM Scandal: Same Republicans Who Blamed Obama For Benghazi, IRS, AP, Are Silent On PRISM — Why?” News.Mic, June 7, 2013, http://mic.com/articles/47129/prism-scandal-same-republicans-who-blamed-obama-for-benghazi-irs-ap-are-silent-on-prism-why]

The NSA programs of acquiring broad amounts of telephone and Internet data have drawn support from both Republicans and Democrats, including the leading members of both parties on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein and Saxby Chambliss. While some in the GOP, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are standing by their principles, others such as Sen. Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) appear to trust Obama only when it suits their agenda. In a statement, Chambliss says that these "lawful intelligence activities must continue, with the careful oversight of the executive …" This is surprising coming from the same man who believes that President Obama was misleading the American people: "What Susan Rice said was exactly what President Obama told her to say … They were about ready to throw her under the bus." He later added, "I do think that there were some politics involved in the message that the White House wanted to send." Talking about the IRS and Benghazi scandals, Sen. Lindsey Graham commented, "The Obama administration is not a victim of anything other than their excess abuse of power," calling Obama's actions "every bit as damaging as Watergate." However, Graham does not seem to have an issue with the same administration that was "spinning the American people" and "stonewalling the Congress" while acquiring masses of telephone and Internet data on American and foreign citizens. Defending the NSA, Graham told Fox & Friends that "I'm glad the NSA is trying to find out what the terrorists are up to overseas and in our country." While neither Chambliss's nor Graham's mistrust of Obama is necessarily problematic, it is difficult to "square the circle" as to why the White House cannot be trusted to run the IRS or secure diplomatic compounds, but can be trusted with voluminous quantities of personal data. On the libertarian right, congressmen have been far more consistent in their views. Sen. Rand Paul condemned the NSA surveillance as "an astounding assault on the Constitution," adding, "After revelations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted political dissidents and the Department of Justice seized reporters' phone records, it would appear that this administration has now sunk to a new low." Sen. Graham has even gone as far as to attack Rand Paul for criticizing the White House: "I see the threat to the average American, radical Islam coming to our backyard trying to destroy our way of life. He sees the threat (from) the government that's trying to stop the attack. I'm more threatened by the radical Islamists than I am the government agencies who are trying to protect us." While Republicans continue to push the Benghazi and IRS scandals, the choice of many to defend Obama’s use of the NSA suggests that Republicans may actually care about the policy enough not to exploit the issue and use it as part of the giant scandal narrative, which would seem to be the smart political play.

Terrorism DA

Terror Links

PRISM is Essential to U.S. Security in War Against Terrorism –DA Links!

Carafano ‘13 (James, Vice President for the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, and the E. W. Richardson Fellow, “PRISM is Essential to U.S. Security in War Against Terrorism”, August 6^th, 2013, http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2013/8/prism-is-essential-to-us-security-in-war-against-terrorism)

Our intelligence professionals must be able to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they're planning," said the president. "The lives of countless Americans depend on our ability to monitor these communications." He added that he would cancel his planned trip to Africa unless assured Congress would support the counterterrorism surveillance program. The president was not Barack Obama. It was George W. Bush, in 2008, pressing Congress to extend and update reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). He was speaking directly to the American public, in an address broadcast live from the Oval Office. How times have changed. Back then, the President of the United States willingly led the fight for the programs he thought necessary to keep the nation safe. Now, our president sends underlings to make the case. In distancing himself from the debate over PRISM (the foreign intelligence surveillance program made famous by the world-travelling leaker Edward Snowden), President Obama followed the precedent he established in May at the National Defense University. There, he spoke disdainfully of drone strikes, the authorization to use military force against terrorists, and the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay. All three are essential components of his counterterrorism strategy. In distancing himself from his own strategy, Obama hoped to leave the impression that he is somehow above it all. He has dealt with the Snowden case the same way. When asked while traveling in Africa if he would take a role in going after the leaker, the president replied "I shouldn't have to." The White House's above-it-all attitude sends seriously mixed messages to the American people, who are trying to figure if the government's surveillance programs are legal and appropriate. Congress has not been much better. The authority for PRISM is in FISA Section 702. Congress debated these authorities in 2007 and again when the program was reauthorized in 2008. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., surely remembers the controversy. He wrote President Bush: "There is no crisis that should lead you to cancel your trip to Africa. But whether or not you cancel your trip, Democrats stand ready to negotiate a final bill, and we remain willing to extend existing law for as short a time or as long a time as is needed to complete work on such a bill." Evidently, Reid must have felt the authorities granted under Section 702 received a full and sufficient hearing. Most current members of Congress were seated under the dome during the 2008 debates. They had every opportunity not just to read the law, but to be briefed on the program by intelligence officials before voting on the bill. For them to act shocked at the scope of the program today rings about as hollow as Obama's expressed disdain for the operations he oversees. The reality is that Congress and the administration share responsibility for these programs. If they want to change or modify them, who's stopping them? If changes are made, however, they should to be made for the right reason. Leaders must never compromise our security for political expediency. At least 60 Islamist-inspired terrorist plots have been aimed at the U.S. since the 9/11 attacks. The overwhelming majority have been thwarted thanks to timely, operational intelligence about the threats. Congress should not go back to a pre-/11 set of rules just to appeal to populist sentiment. Congress and the White House have an obligation to protect our liberties and to safeguard our security -- in equal measure. Meeting that mission is more important than winning popularity polls.

PRISM helped stop terrorism in US and 20-plus countries.

Mattise ‘13 (Nathan, New Orleans-based Staff Editor at Ars Technica, “PRISM helped stop terrorism in US and 20-plus countries”, June 16th 2013, http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/06/prism-helped-stop-terrorism-in-us-and-20-plus-countries-nsa-document-argues/)

US intelligence officials sent Congress a new declassified document on Saturday, which the Senate Intelligence Committee then made public. Outlets such as CNN and the Associated Press received the document and revealed a number of interesting statistics related to the government's use of the NSA's controversial PRISM program. However, this document has not yet been published on the Senate Intelligence Committee's website (and does not seem to be easily obtained through basic Internet search). The new document is part of an intelligence official's effort to "show Americans the value of the program," according to the AP. The report's primary supporting stat? Intelligence officials said that information gleaned from these NSA initiatives helped prevent terrorist plots in the US and more than 20 other countries. Additionally, the release stated that phone metadata was searched for less than 300 times within the secretive database last year. The document also added details to the public's growing picture of the PRISM program. CNN reported that the NSA must delete these records after five years. The AP wrote that the NSA programs are reviewed every 90 days by a secret court authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and that the metadata records (which includes a call's time and length) can only be inspected for "suspected connections to terrorism." Despite all the public attention, the Obama Administration continues to insist that no privacy violations took place. According to White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough (speaking Sunday on Face The Nation), the president plans to further clarify this "in the days ahead." On Friday, TechDirt also published a set of two documents described as "talking points about scooping up business records (i.e., all data on all phone calls) and on the Internet program known as PRISM." One of the talking points' main arguments is that Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authorizes actions similar to those described above. This is despite the fact that no member of the public has ever been able to see the FISA court's ruling of the government's interpretation.

PRISM stopped 50 terrorist attacks, including assaults on the New York Stock Exchange and New York City subways.

Gerstein ‘13

(Josh, White House reporter for POLITICO, specializing in legal and national security issues, “PRISM stopped NYSE attack”, June 18^th 2013, http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/nsa-leak-keith-alexander-92971.html)

Recently leaked communication surveillance programs have helped thwart more than 50 “potential terrorist events” around the world since the Sept. 11 attacks, National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander said Tuesday. Alexander said at least 10 of the attacks were set to take place in the United States, suggesting that most of the terrorism disrupted by the program had been set to occur abroad. The NSA also disclosed that counterterrorism officials targeted fewer than 300 phone numbers or other “identifiers” last year in the massive call-tracking database secretly assembled by the U.S. government. Alexander said the programs were subject to “extraordinary oversight.” ”This isn’t some rogue operation that a group of guys up at NSA are running,” the spy agency’s chief added. The data on use of the call-tracking data came in a fact sheet released to reporters in connection with a public House Intelligence Committee hearing exploring the recently leaked telephone data mining program and another surveillance effort focused on Web traffic generated by foreigners. (POLITICO Junkies: NSA leaks cause flood of political problems) Alexander said 90 percent of the potential terrorist incidents were disrupted by the Web traffic program known as PRISM. He was less clear about how many incidents the call-tracking effort had helped to avert. Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce said the Web traffic program had contributed to arrests averting a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange that resulted in criminal charges in 2008. Joyce also indicated that the PRISM program was essential to disrupting a plot to bomb the New York City subways in 2009. “Without the [Section] 702 tool, we would not have identified Najibullah Zazi,” Joyce said. However, President Barack Obama acknowledged in an interview aired Monday that it is impossible to know whether the subway plot might have been foiled by other methods. ”We might have caught him some other way. We might have disrupted it because a New York cop saw he was suspicious. Maybe he turned out to be incompetent and the bomb didn’t go off. But at the margins we are increasing our chances of preventing a catastrophe like that through these programs,” Obama told Charlie Rose on PBS. At the hearing, Alexander detailed the scope and safeguards of the programs, while Deputy Attorney General James Cole laid out the legal basis for the surveillance. “This is not a program that’s off the books, that’s been hidden away,” Cole said of the call-tracking program, which was classified “top secret” prior to recent leaks. He noted that the Patriot Act provision found to authorize it has been twice reauthorized by Congress. “All of us in the national security [community] are constantly trying to balance protecting public safety with protecting people’s civil liberties,” Cole said. NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis said a very limited number of individuals are authorized to access the call-tracking database.

Terror DA Turns the Case – EU Relations

Fallout from a terrorist attack would damage US-European relations far more than U.S. surveillance. The disad turns the case.

Raisher, ‘14 [Josh is a program coordinator for the Transatlantic Trends survey at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, ”Ties that Bind?” U.S. News & World Report, 9-11-2014, http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2014/09/11/german-us-relationship-still-strong-despite-nsa-merkel-spying-rift]

So even if policymakers significantly rein in the NSA program itself, along with other espionage activities targeting Germany, something new would inevitably replace them – and potentially something far less appealing to America’s allies. The potential domestic fallout of a successful terror attack is sufficiently monumental that it makes political sense for leaders to disregard the fraying of America’s relationship with an ally if it reduces the risk of such an event; and if the president wants to curtail intelligence-gathering programs, his room for error is dangerously narrow.

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