CNSS

The Center for National Security Studies is a watchdog in defense of civil liberties,
human rights and constitutional
limits on government power

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"Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad"

James Madison, May 13, 1798

CNSS Spotlight on the Issues

"U.S. Is Secretly Collecting Records of Verizon Calls"
The New York Times coverage of the Verizon FISA court order features analysis from Kate Martin: “absent some explanation I haven’t thought of, this looks like the largest assault on privacy since the N.S.A. wiretapped Americans in clear violation of the law...On what possible basis has the government refused to tell us that it believes that the law authorizes this kind of request?”

Published on 05 Jun 2013

CNSS' Statement on the President's Counterterrorism Speech
From Kate Martin: "We welcome the President’s historic commitment to ending the war against al Qaeda: his commitment that military force must be the last resort in preventing terrorist attacks; and his recognition that respect for civil liberties and commitment to constitutional governance makes the country stronger."

Published on 23 May 2013

Senate Holds Hearing on 2001 AUMF
The Senate Armed Services Committee held an oversight hearing on the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force and the administration's interpretation of its war authority. Read the Department of Defense written testimony here and law Professor Geoffrey Corn's prepared remarks here. CNSS sent a letter to the committee urging it to carefully examine these issues and press the administration for more transparency. Likewise, Professors Jennifer Daskal and Steven Vladeck wrote an op-ed in the New York Times warning against any premature congressional expansion of current war powers.

Published on 16 May 2013

Resources

“U.S. Secretly Collected Millions of Phone Records in Counterterrorism Effort”

Kate Martin debates Col. Cedric Leighton on PBS Newshour about revelations of widespread collection and storage of millions of Americans’ call records by the National Security Agency.

Published on 06 Jun 2013

In 2006 CNSS Outlined the Beginning of the NSA Scandal

When the story broke in 2006 about the National Security Agency's secret data-mining program, CNSS outlined the government’s possible legal justifications. This 2006 memo anticipated and debunked what we now know the government was in fact arguing.

See the original post at the ACS website.

Published on 11 May 2006

“Is It Time to Change the President’s War Powers?”

CNSS Director Kate Martin responds to an editorial in The Washington Post on the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force.

Published on 20 May 2013

Letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee on the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force

The letter urges the Senate Armed Services Committee to work for public disclosure of where and against whom the United States is currently using military force; it also makes the case that congressional consideration of any new AUMF is premature, unless and until the President says he wants to continue to use military force against al Qaeda or its affiliates after the 2014 drawdown in Afghanistan.