Lieberman Pushes For More Surveillance Cameras

Jul 3, 2007 12:42 PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week that he wants to use surveillance cameras "more widely" across the country.

"The Brits have got something smart going in England, and it was part of why I believe they were able to so quickly apprehend suspects in the terrorist acts over the weekend, and that is they have cameras all over London and other of their major cities," Lieberman said.

"I think it's just common sense to do that here much more widely," he added. "And of course, we can do it without compromising anybody's real privacy."

Lieberman lamented the "petty, partisan fighting" in Congress and called on his colleagues to join together to upgrade the nation's electronic surveillance capabilities. In a reference to the Senate Judiciary Committee's subpoenas for documents related to President Bush's NSA warrantless wiretapping program, Lieberman said, "I hope these terrorist attacks in London wake us up here in America."

"Right now, we're at a partisan gridlock over the question of whether the American government can listen into conversations or follow e-mail trails of non-American citizen," he said. "That's wrong. We've got to solve that problem, pass a law to give the people working for us the ability to protect us."

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