But they were right to feel snubbed after several planned meetings with national security authorities were scrubbed. The views are those of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla., who spoke today with Newsbytes. The delegation had scheduled meetings with the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency to glean more information about the mission of Echelon, a surveillance system run jointly by the U.S. and several other countries, though its very existence is officially unconfirmed. Several media reports have suggested, however, that the system, is being used not for national security but as an industrial espionage instrument to give U.S. private industry a leg up over international competitors.
Echelon reportedly can tap e-mail and other communications worldwide.
There are a lot of agendas at play. Goss and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. We certainly did not send them away empty-handed. European Union officials were not immediately available for comment on Goss's statements today. Pelosi staffers did not return calls seeking comment.