Senator Dodd reacts to latest NSA story

As I'm sure everyone is aware (unless you live in a cave), we learned today that the NSA (under the orders of the Bush administration) has been secretly collecting the phone records on tens of millions of Americans citizens. If you're like me, you should find this revelation extremely troubling and President Bush saying "trust me" just doesn't cut it (I mean, at this point, no one in this country believes anything that comes out of his mouth).

Here's a statement from Senator Dodd regarding today's USA Today story on the NSA secretly collecting American citizens' phone records.

“Our nation needs to be vigilant in protecting our citizens from terrorist attacks. There should be no greater responsibility than working to keep our nation safe from harm. But I also believe that we need to protect and preserve the basic freedoms and liberties that define our nation and our national character. The fact that a massive and secret collection of personal information about average Americans all across the nation apparently is taking place without any oversight or scrutiny is troubling, to say the least. Given this Administration’s long and checkered record, it isn’t enough for the President to just say ‘trust me.’ The President needs to immediately and clearly spell out whether this secret effort has been egregiously infringing on the American public's right to privacy, and if not, what safeguards exist to give the American people confidence to believe that their rights to privacy are being fully protected.”

No word from President Bush's favorite Democrat (why am I not surprised).