Hagel: No president above the law

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BY DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star

Sen. Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that Americans can be protected against terrorism without violating the law or  ignoring civil rights.

Hagel is one of two Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who have called for an investigation into President Bush’s decision to order domestic intelligence surveillance without court approval. “No president is ever above the law,” Hagel said in a telephone conference call from Washington.

“We are a nation of laws. You cannot avoid or dismiss a law.”

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Hagel

Hagel

At issue, Hagel said, is whether the decision to order such surveillance violates a 1978 law requiring approval by a secret U.S. foreign intelligence surveillance court.

Bush has claimed legal and constitutional authority to act.

Hagel and four other members of the Intelligence Committee have called for a joint probe with the Senate Judiciary Committee to determine the extent of the domestic surveillance and whether the president had legal authority to order it without court approval.

The administration has said the eavesdropping targeted communications between the United States and foreign countries involving suspects or their associates.

The system already is in place to provide “the balance that protects our national security as well as our civil rights,” Hagel said.

“We need wiretaps” in the war against terrorists, he said, “but there’s a right way and a wrong way to do that.”

Hagel said he was not aware of Bush’s domestic surveillance policy before it was revealed by The New York Times.

Asked about Vice President Dick Cheney’s warning that Bush’s critics could pay a heavy political price, Hagel said:  “My oath is to the  Constitution, not to a vice president, a president or a political party.”

Hagel said he’s determined to “do what I think is right for the people I represent and the country I serve.” 

Earlier, he was one of four Republican senators who supported the Senate filibuster of a revised Patriot Act bill that he said would threaten civil liberties and “erode individual rights.”

On a separate topic, Hagel said he voted Wednesday for a $40 billion reduction in the federal budget over the next five years to slow the growth of federal spending and begin the task of budget deficit reduction.

“What this bill does is cut the rate of growth,” he said.  “We don’t cut programs.”

The bill reduces Medicare spending by $6.4 billion over five years, Hagel said, still allowing for a 58 percent increase.

It reduces Medicaid spending by $4.7 billion, he said, still providing for a 40 percent increase over five years.

The United States “cannot sustain the current fiscal trajectory” in federal spending, Hagel said, and must begin to brake the growth.

The budget reduction package was approved by a 51-50 vote, with Cheney breaking a Senate deadlock. 

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson voted against the bill.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.