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New Mexico’s U.S. senators are asking James Clapper, director of national intelligence, for details on a program that allowed Americans’ electronic communications to be intercepted under federal eavesdropping laws.
Sens. Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman, both New Mexico Democrats, signed onto a letter to Clapper this week asking for more information about the number of Americans whose emails or phone calls might have been secretly scrutinized under the government’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Other Senate Democrats and Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah also signed the letter.
“We are concerned that Congress and the public do not currently have a full understanding of the impact that this law has had on the privacy of law-abiding Americans,” the letter said.
A provision in the FISA law expanded the government’s power to collect the communications of foreigners located outside the U.S. The Obama administration has said it is unsure how many American citizens may have been subject to the surveillance.
LOAN CRACKDOWN: Udall this week also signed onto legislation that would crack down on payday lenders and give states more power to police the high-interest loan operations.
According to Udall’s office, the bill, called the SAFE Lending Act, would ensure that a third party doesn’t gain access to a bank account through remotely created checks, which are checks from a consumer’s bank account created by third parties. It would also allow consumers to cancel a debit connected to a small-dollar loan to prevent an Internet payday lender from stripping a checking account without consumer permission and require all lenders, including banks, to abide by state rules for the small-dollar, payday-like loans they may offer customers in a state.
“Too often, families who turn to payday lending fall victim to deceitful practices that make it harder for them to make ends meet,” Udall said. “With payday lending moving online, the opportunities for abuse are growing.”
BACKING VETS: Rep. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat running for U.S. Senate, is airing a television ad starting today that touts his commitment to New Mexico’s military veterans and installations.
The ad shows Heinrich speaking with veterans and their families, including a female Air Force veteran whose husband, also an Air Force veteran, died in Afghanistan last year. Another New Mexico veteran, a Marine named Marvin Trujillo, touts Heinrich’s work protecting jobs at Kirtland Air Force Base.
Washington stewardship of New Mexico’s military installations and national laboratories is becoming an important issue in the U.S. Senate race. Former Rep. Heather Wilson, a Republican Air Force veteran, has repeatedly said she is best equipped to protect the jobs and federal investment created by the labs.
Contact Michael Coleman at mcoleman@abqjournal.com
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal
