Joe Biden: “I support the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance with Germany, a close and trusted partner with the United States on law…”

“I support the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance with Germany, a close and trusted partner with the United States on law enforcement matters. I would like to address one issue that arose during the review of the treaty. Article 12(1) of the treaty provides that ``Each Party may at the request of the other Party, within its possibilities and under the conditions prescribed by its domestic law . . . take the necessary steps for the surveillance of telecommunications.'' After the revelation last December of the program of warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency, NSA, the question arose whether the treaty would provide another purported legal authority for the NSA program. My view is that it does not. But the President's lawyers have proffered highly dubious theories for the program, and the Senate should not make assumptions about what the executive branch thinks about a treaty, because ultimately it is the President, not the Senate, who is charged with ``faithfully executing'' it. So I asked the executive branch its legal view about whether the treaty provides any additional legal authority for electronic surveillance--whether for the NSA program or any other program. On April 6, 2006, I wrote the Attorney General of the United States to ask him to confirm that the treaty does not authorize warrantless surveillance. On July 3, after nearly 3 months of deliberation, the Department of Justice responded to my letter.…”