On July 21, 2009, PEN American Center sent the following letter to Congressman Rush Holt, urging him to continue investigating the National Security Agency's secret telephone and Internet surveillance program as Chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel.

July 21, 2009

Congressman Rush Holt
House of Representatives
1214 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-3012
Via fax: (202) 225-6025

Dear Congressman Holt,

We are writing on behalf of the 3,300 members of PEN American Center, an organization of writers dedicated to protecting freedom of expression wherever it is threatened, to thank you for your leadership in investigating the National Security Agency’s secret telephone and Internet surveillance program and to express our grave concern over information that has surfaced in those investigations suggesting the communications of ordinary Americans continue to be illegally monitored as part of the program.

Last year, PEN American Center joined Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other leading international human rights organizations, journalists, and attorneys in filing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act, which as you know granted the Administration the power to carry out and expand the illegal eavesdropping activities it has engaged in secretly since 2001. That case will be argued in U.S. District Court this week.

We joined this lawsuit because we believe our own communications, which include sensitive phone calls and emails with writers at risk around the world, are vulnerable under the program. And we know, based on the experiences of our colleagues in countries where governments had unchecked surveillance powers (including the United States as recently as the 1970s) that programs that allow governments to spy on their own citizens are often directed against writers and intellectuals, and that domestic surveillance in general poses a serious threat to the intellectual and creative freedoms of all citizens.

The National Security Agency’s secret telephone and Internet surveillance program is one of several post-9/11 powers that threaten the right of American citizens and residents to read, write, and communicate freely, without fearing that our government is listening in or compiling private, First Amendment-protected information. We have also been working alongside librarians, booksellers, and publishers to restore confidentiality protections for bookstore and library records that were weakened by the Patriot Act, and to curb the power of the FBI—frequently abused, as numerous government audits have shown—to issue National Security Letters to gain sensitive personal information and records. With the help and support of many in Congress, we have made progress. But there is still work to be done.

Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.

Sincerely,

K. Anthony Appiah
President

Larry Siems
Director, Freedom to Write and International Programs