Congress Must Hold Hearings On Signing Statements
Guess who is opening, reading your mail
OUR OPINION: CONGRESS MUST HOLD HEARINGS ON SIGNING STATEMENTS
Editorial
Miami Herald
1/9/2007
The postal legislation that President Bush signed into law last month seems innocent enough. It gives the government the right to open mail without a warrant if there is suspicion that it may contain a bomb, anthrax or some other threatening substance. President Bush said the law gives the government no power that it doesn't already have. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service agrees. But the law isn't as benign as it seems.
This law is more like the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology, in which the Greeks used a hollowed out giant wooden horse to invade and conquer Troy. President Bush attached a ''signing statement'' to the law that allows a president to authorize a search of mail in an emergency to ''protect human life and safety'' and ``for foreign intelligence collection.''
750 signing statements