Constitution Project Welcomes Congressional Oversight of Watch Lists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 24, 2007
10:42 AM

CONTACT: Consitution Project
cowens@constitutionproject.org
 
Constitution Project Welcomes Congressional Oversight of Watch Lists
 

WASHINGTON - October 24 - The Constitution Project applauded Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME) for holding today's oversight hearing on "Watching the Watch List: Building an Effective Terrorist Screening System." The Constitution Project's Liberty and Security Committee - co-chaired by David Cole, professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, and David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union - have called on Congress to enact legislation to "restrict the use of such watch lists, and adopt important reforms to govern the situations in which they are used," in its statement, "Promoting Accuracy and Fairness in the Use of Government Watch Lists," which was submitted for the record.

"Watch lists can be useful, but only insofar as they are maintained accurately and used appropriately," said Sharon Bradford Franklin, senior counsel at the Constitution Project. "Poorly managed watch lists simultaneously threaten individual liberty and national security. Not only do error-filled lists impose burdens on innocent people, but they waste government resources that would be better spent on investigating actual terrorist suspects. Congress should require uniform standards and audit procedures to improve the fairness and accuracy of these lists." For more information about the Liberty and Security Committee of the Constitution Project, please visit http://www.constitutionproject.org/.

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