Speaking about ECHELON , Frank Church said : " ... T hat capability at any time could be turned around on the American people and no American would have any privacy left , such is the capability to monitor everything : telephone conversations , telegrams , it does n't matter . There would be no place to hide . If this government ever became a tyranny , if a dictator ever took charge in this country , the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny , and there would be no way to fight back , because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government , no matter how privately it was done , is within the reach of the government to know . Such is the capability of this technology ... I do n't want to see this country ever go across the bridge . I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America , and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision , so that we never cross over that abyss . That is the abyss from which there is no return . " The Church Committee hearings and other congressional hearings into abuses by the Nixon Administration by a committee chaired by Sam Ervin helped lead to the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ( " FISA " ) , in 1978 . FISA prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of " foreign intelligence information " between " foreign powers " and " agents of foreign powers " ( which may include American citizens and permanent residents suspected of espionage or terrorism ) in 1978 . After the September 11 attacks , the law was amended , enabling President George W. Bush to expand the warrantless surveillance of American citizens
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Perry Fellwock