open letter to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated readers
 

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the Constitution.
#
# James Madison must be rolling in his grave at that claim.
#
# The principal of separation of powers, which he wrote into the
# Constitution, was designed to let each of the three branches of
# Government check abuse by the others.
#
# Congress does not like to tangle with the executive on claims of
# national security.
#
# But will it lie down before this claim of exclusive, imperial power?

The New York Times, June 20, 1997

President Threatens Veto of Senate Bill for CIA

By TIM WEINER

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Thursday passed a secret
spending bill for U.S. intelligence, but the White
House threatened to veto it over a provision that would
protect whistleblowers.

The Senate bill would let employees of the Central
Intelligence Agency and other branches of the
government tell members of Congress classified
information that would expose a crime, reveal lying to
Congress, uncover fraud or stop abuses. They could do
so without approval from their superiors and without
fear of reprisal. They could only pass on information
to appropriate members -- for example, CIA information
would have to go to the Intelligence Committee.

But the White House said it would veto the entire bill
over that provision. In a written statement, it said



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