I am also concerned that this program will make the telephone system more vulnerable to misuse. We need good technology for privacy and security, not wiretapping and surveillance. The experience with the Clipper chip already proved that government proposals for electronic surveillance will be very unpopular with American business and the American public. I understand that the Department of Justice is trying to hide the cost for this program by spending civil fines received by the government. I think this is wrong.
Funds collected by the government are taxpayer dollars.
Congress should decide how that money should be spent. Funding should be available for appropriate law enforcement activities, but the wiretap program is too expensive and just a bad idea. Also, with many government programs being cut back, it is a bad time to launch a new program that is so controversial. Privacy is an important American value. A vote to reduce government surveillance is a vote to support basic American freedoms.