House votes to condemn media over terror story

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives yesterday voted to condemn the decision by several newspapers to publish details of the Bush administration's secret program to track terrorist financing, in a swipe at the media aimed primarily at The New York Times.

The nonbinding ``Sense of the Congress" resolution states that media organizations ``may have placed the lives of Americans in danger" by revealing details of the classified program. It goes on to say that Congress ``expects the cooperation of all news media organizations" in keeping classified programs secret.

The resolution passed 227-to-183 with 17 Democrats joining nearly all House Republicans in voting for it. Though the resolution does not specifically name any media outlet, Republicans made clear that it was written with the Times in mind.

``For the newspapers -- The New York Times specifically and others who followed their lead -- to have disclosed the existence of this program, I think jeopardizes the safety of the American people," said House majority leader John A. Boehner, an Ohio Republican. ``In doing so, I frankly think that they risked the lives of Americans."

The Times broke the story about the special bank surveillance program on its website late June 22 and The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post published stories on the program the following morning. The Boston Globe, which is owned by the New York Times Company, published the Los Angeles Times's version of the story that day.

Under the classified program, the US government has been monitoring international financial transactions handled by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communication, a banking industry-owned cooperative known as SWIFT. The Belgium-based cooperative is controlled by nearly 8,000 financial institutions in 20 countries.

Yesterday, Democrats lashed out at Republicans for adopting a ``kill the messenger" campaign designed to distract the public from an unpopular war in Iraq -- and from an investigation into the leaking of a CIA operative's name, a probe that has implicated high-ranking members of the Bush administration.

``This measure attempts to intimidate the press and strengthen the hands of this despotic administration," said Representative Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat. ``This president is in favor of releasing classified information to the press when it's to his political advantage and condemning the press when information reveals that the administration may be violating the law."

The House resolution was the latest volley in a GOP-led offensive against media organizations. Conservatives are angry that reporters have revealed secret White House terrorist tracking operations, some of which involve bypassing the courts to analyze Americans' records to look for suspicious patterns or contacts.

``Basically, loose lips kill American people," House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Republican of Illinois, told reporters Wednesday.

President Bush kept up his attack Wednesday night, speaking at a Republican fund-raiser in St. Louis. ``There can be no excuse for anyone entrusted with vital intelligence to leak it, and no excuse for any newspaper to print it," the president said.

Representative J. D. Hayworth, an Arizona Republican, has called for revoking the congressional press credentials of Times reporters, a move that would bar them from press galleries and access to parts of the Capitol. Several Republican members of Congress have asked the Justice Department to investigate the Times' decision to publish the story for possible criminal prosecution.

Democrats pointed out that government officials have publicly boasted about stepped-up efforts to monitor terrorists' finances since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Some reports have even specifically mentioned SWIFT as a source of the new financial information that federal authorities have been tapping

Representative James P. McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, said the Republicans' resolution is designed to ``punish and intimidate" journalists.

``Let's be honest: We are here today because there hasn't been enough red meat thrown at the Republican base before the Fourth of July holiday," McGovern said. ``The administration and its allies have no problem with leaks to the press when those leaks advance their political agenda. But if a leak contradicts their agenda, suddenly they call it treason."

Republicans countered by saying the media revealed details of the SWIFT program that hadn't previously been known, potentially tipping off terrorists to change their activities to prevent detection.

``The president of the United States wasn't dumb enough to talk about methods and ways that the program works," said Michael Oxley, an Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services. ``Now we have it spread all over the news media about how this program works. What's the average terrorist going to think? He's going to find a different way to move his money around."

The Times came in for the harshest condemnation during the House floor debate. In December, the Times was the first news outlet to report on a secret warrantless wiretapping program Bush authorized in 2001.

Peter King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said if another terrorist attack occurs, the Times could be to blame. ``That blood will be on their hands," said King, a New York Republican.

Representative Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican, said that Times reporters and editors have done ``irreparable harm" to a vital terrorist tracking tool.

``If you are Al Qaeda, the appropriate response to this publication is, `Thank you,' " Bachus said. ``But if you're an American citizen, endangered by terrorists [and] the insensitivity, the arrogance, and the irresponsibility of this paper and its publication, then the appropriate response is anger and outrage -- and this resolution."

In an open letter to readers earlier this week, the Times's executive editor, Bill Keller, wrote that the newspaper decided to publish the article only after considering a variety of factors. That list included the fact that the program's legality hasn't been tested in court, and that those who finance terrorist operations already know their transactions are probably being closely monitored, Keller wrote.

Republicans blocked Democrats from offering their own, more mildly worded resolution yesterday. The Democratic version, offered by Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, expressed concern over the ``unauthorized disclosure of classified information," but made no mention of the media.

Democrats said the focus on the media suggests that Republicans are more interested in muzzling critical voices than they are in protecting classified information.

``What's happening here tonight is an attempt to shoot the messenger," said Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat.