Coburn Defends Surveillance Programs
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn defends surveillance programs
WASHINGTON — National security programs that collect phone and Internet data are legal, and the country is significantly more vulnerable to attack since the programs were exposed, Sen. Tom Coburn said Tuesday.
Coburn, R-Muskogee, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Americans would be proud and amazed by the work being done by the National Security Administration and would have no concerns that their civil liberties were being violated.
The NSA, he said, “is one of the few areas where the government does it right — it has great leadership and great internal controls.”
Moreover, he said, the congressional intelligence committees conduct rigorous oversight of the nation’s spy work to ensure it’s done within the parameters of the law.