Washington, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the House Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee, released the following statement on the federal court decision to allow the NSA spying-related lawsuit against AT&T to proceed:

"On May 22nd, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin refused my request to investigate allegations of illegal disclosure of consumer telephone records to the National Security Agency (NSA).  In his letter to me, Chairman Martin cited a motion filed by the government in U.S. District Court in California, where the Bush Administration was invoking a "state secrets" privilege in seeking dismissal of a lawsuit, as part of his rationale for not beginning any investigation into this scandal.

"Today, the federal judge rejected the government's request for dismissal.  As such, the court also 'hung up' on Chairman Martin's tortured logic for not fulfilling his statutory obligation to commence a proceeding to enforce our nation's communications privacy laws.

"I believe the FCC Chairman is running out of excuses for inaction.  The FCC is supposed to be an independent agency; its Chairman is tasked with enforcing the communications laws of the country.  It's time for the FCC Chairman to stop shielding the Bush Administration and large telephone companies from questions about whether or not they broke the law and released millions of phone records.   If the NSA wants to invoke a states secrets privilege that is its right, but it is unseemly for the FCC -- an independent regulatory agency -- to invoke such claims for the NSA prior to any investigation."

Below is a link to Markey’s homepage that includes the letter sent to the FCC Chairman Kevin Martin urging him to investigate this matter and Chairman Martin’s reply refusing to investigate based on the court case filed against AT&T in federal court in San Francisco:

http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1610&Itemid=141