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The American newspaper USA Today reported on Thursday that the United States' National Security Agency collected millions of call logs from telecommunication companies in 2001. The report comes almost four months following a previous controversy of the agency, which included the monitoring of International calls placed within the United States.

Congressional members called for answers from the government about the report detailing the agency collecting records of American phone calls from communication companies.

The top ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee said that he was very shocked about the NSA revelation. "It is our government, it's not one party's government. It's America's government. Those entrusted with great power have a duty to answer to Americans what they are doing," said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

AT&T, Verizon Communications, and BellSouth, three major telecommunication companies in the United States, began releasing logs of millions of phone calls to the NSA program shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to a report published in Thursday's edition of the USA Today.

Earlier this year, the New York Times released a report stating the NSA had been monitoring certain phone calls placed between the United States and other countries. Nominated CIA director Michael Hayden commented on the NSA program on January 23, 2006, stating: "The purpose of all this is not to collect reams of intelligence, but to detect and prevent attacks." Hayden was the head of the NSA during the programs' durations.

President George W. Bush assured Americans that their privacy is being "fiercely protected." "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans", commented Bush after leaving for a commencement address at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Biloxi. He summarized by emphasizing again that when sensitive intelligence is leaked, it hurts our ability to defeat the enemy in question. This leaves open the question of where today's leak originated, and the potential role of any White House public relations strategy.

According to the report, the information released by the telecommunications companies does not detail the content of the calls. Instead, information of who placed and received the calls was recorded.

The Supreme Court of the United States has previously ruled that logs of numbers dialed are not considered 'private' because they are being communicated to the telephone company.

Sources

Associated Press "Feds compile secret list of American's phone calls". Albuquerque Tribune, May 11, 2006

MATTHEW COOPER/WASHINGTON "A Tipping Point on Eavesdropping". TIME MAGAZINE, May 11, 2006

Miles O'Brien "NSA collects lists of numbers Americans call". CNN, May 11, 2006

Susan Page "NSA secret database report triggers fierce debate in Washington". USA TODAY, May 11, 2006

CBS "Congress Demands NSA Spying Answers". CBS News, May 11, 2006

Press Release "REMARKS BY GENERAL MICHAEL V. HAYDEN". Global Security, January 26, 2006

This article originally appeared at WikiNews.

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