The New York Times reports on a speech given today in Washington D.C. at DAR Constitutional Hall by former Vice President Al Gore, the focus of which was presidential authority, government secrecy, domestic surveillance, and the decline of congressional power. An audience of several thousand attended Gore’s speech, which was simulcast by C-SPAN, and co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and The Liberty Coalition.
The prepared text of Gore’s remarks, Restoring the Rule of Law (16 pages, PDF)
“Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress should support the bipartisan call of the Liberty Coalition for the appointment of a special counsel to pursue the criminal issues raised by warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the President.”
“Second, new whistleblower protections should immediately be established for members of the Executive Branch who report evidence of wrongdoingespecially where it involves the abuse of Executive Branch authority in the sensitive areas of national security.”
“Third, both Houses of Congress should hold comprehensiveand not just superficialhearings into these serious allegations of criminal behavior on the part of the President. And, they should follow the evidence wherever it leads.”
“Once violated, the rule of law is in danger. Unless stopped, lawlessness grows. The greater the power of the executive grows, the more difficult it becomes for the other branches to perform their constitutional roles. As the executive acts outside its constitutionally prescribed role and is able to control access to information that would expose its actions, it becomes increasingly difficult for the other branches to police it. Once that ability is lost, democracy itself is threatened and we become a government of men and not laws.”
Related resources and news:
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
Postings on domestic surveillance
The Reporter’s Privilege Under Siege: In a speech yesterday, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller stated, “…there is a full-scale assault by the federal government now on journalists in order to get to people who disclose classified information without authorization…Unless you have people who disagree with government policy who work for the government come forward, we will be getting only the information that the government wants us to have…That’s authorized news. That’s not a free and independent press.”
ACLU Ads: No President Is Above the Law
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