A Republican lawmaker whose subcommittee oversees the National Security Agency has broken ranks with the White House and called for a full Congressional inquiry into the Bush administration's domestic spying program, a newspaper reported.
The The New York Times said Representative Heather Wilson of New Mexico, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, said in an interview that she had "serious concerns" about the surveillance program.
By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why, the report said.
Wilson, who was a National Security Council aide in the administration of President Bush's father, is the first Republican on either the House's Intelligence Committee or the Senate's to call for a full congressional investigation into the program, the paper said.
President George W. Bush has admitted authorizing the NSA to eavesdrop without warrants on the international communications of people inside the United States believed to have links with Al-Qaeda.
But his administration, backed by Republican leaders in both houses, has resisted calls for inquiries by either Congress or an independent prosecutor.
Wilson said in the interview she considered the limited congressional briefings about the program to be "increasingly untenable" because they left most lawmakers knowing little about it, The Times said.
She said the House Intelligence Committee needed to conduct a "painstaking" review, including not only classified briefings but also access to internal documents and staff interviews with NSA aides and intelligence officials, according to the report.
Wilson, a former Air Force officer, said she realized that publicizing her concerns over the surveillance program could harm her relations with the administration, the paper pointed out.
"The president has his duty to do, but I have mine too, and I feel strongly about that," The Times quoted her as saying
The The New York Times said Representative Heather Wilson of New Mexico, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence, said in an interview that she had "serious concerns" about the surveillance program.
By withholding information about its operations from many lawmakers, she said, the administration has deepened her apprehension about whom the agency is monitoring and why, the report said.
Wilson, who was a National Security Council aide in the administration of President Bush's father, is the first Republican on either the House's Intelligence Committee or the Senate's to call for a full congressional investigation into the program, the paper said.
President George W. Bush has admitted authorizing the NSA to eavesdrop without warrants on the international communications of people inside the United States believed to have links with Al-Qaeda.
But his administration, backed by Republican leaders in both houses, has resisted calls for inquiries by either Congress or an independent prosecutor.
Wilson said in the interview she considered the limited congressional briefings about the program to be "increasingly untenable" because they left most lawmakers knowing little about it, The Times said.
She said the House Intelligence Committee needed to conduct a "painstaking" review, including not only classified briefings but also access to internal documents and staff interviews with NSA aides and intelligence officials, according to the report.
Wilson, a former Air Force officer, said she realized that publicizing her concerns over the surveillance program could harm her relations with the administration, the paper pointed out.
"The president has his duty to do, but I have mine too, and I feel strongly about that," The Times quoted her as saying
