Full Text of Dick Cheney's Response to Arlen Specter on Bush Wiretapping Scandal

The Vice President
Washington

June 8, 2006

The Honorable Arlen Specter
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-6275

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This is in response to your letter of June 7, 2006 concerning the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP) the Administration has described. The commitment in your letter to work with the Administration in a non-confrontational manner is most welcome and will, of course, be reciprocated.

As recently as Tuesday of this week, I reiterated that, as the Administration has said before, while there is no need for any legislation to carry out the Terrorist Surveillance Program, the Administration will listen to the ideas of legislators about terrorist surveillance legislation and work with them in good faith. Needless to say, that includes you, Senator DeWine and others who haave ideas for such legislation. The President ultimately will have to make a decision whether any particular legislation would strengthen the ability of the Government to protect Americans against terrorists, while protecting the rights of Americans, but we believe the Congress and the Administration working together can produce legislation to achieve that objective, if that is the will of Congress.

Having served in the executive branch as chief of staff for one President and as Secretary of Defense for another, having served in the legislative branch as a Representative from Wyoming for a decade, and serving now in a unique position under the Constitution with both executive functions and legislative functions, I fully understand and respect the separate constitutional roles of the Congress and the Presidency. Under our constitutional separation between the legislative powers granted to Congress and the executive power vested exclusively in the Presidency, differences of view may occur from time to time between the branches, but the Government generally functions best when the legislative branch and the executive branch work together. And I believe that both branches agree that they should work together as Congress decides whether and how to pursue further terrorist surveillance legislation.

Your letter addressed four basic subjects: (1) the legal basis for the TSP; (2) the Administration position on legislation prepared by you relating to the TSP; (3) provision of information to Congress about the TSP; and (4) communications with Senators on the Judiciary Committee about the TSP.

The executive branch has conducted the TSP, from its inception on October 4, 2001 to the present, with great care to operate within the law, with approval as to legality of Presidential authorizations every 45 days or so by senior Government attorneys. The Department of Justice has set forth in detail in writing the constitutional and statutory bases, and related judicial precedents, for warrantless electronic surveillance under the TSP to protect against terrorism, and that information has been made available to your Committee and to the public.

Your letter indicated that you have repeatedly requested an Administration position on legislation prepared by you relating to the TSP program. If you would like a formal Administration position on draft legislation, you may at any time submit it to the Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for processing, which will produce a formal Administration position. Before you do so, however, it might be more productive for executive branch experts to meet with you, and perhaps Senator DeWine or other Senators as appropriate, to review the various bills that have been introduced and to share the Administration's thoughts on terrorist surveillance legislation. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Steven G. Bradbury are key experts upon whom the executive branch would rely for this purpose. I will ask them to contact you promptly so that the cooperative effort can proceed apace.