Specter's amendment (SA 3679) to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery would require that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, as well as all members of these committees, receive full, timely information on the NSA spying program.

In addition, the amendment would require that the Senate and House Judiciary Committees also be kept informed of the program. Specter is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. A provision of the amendment specifies that the information provided to the committees should be sufficient for them to carry out their oversight responsibilities.

The amendment comes just as a deal for greater disclosure reached during Patriot Act negotiations begins to bear fruit. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) delivered a report to congressional leaders on the use of National Security Letters (NSLs) by the bureau. The FBI uses NSLs to obtain records from businesses about their customers including credit reports, records from Internet Service Providers, and financial records.

The report indicates the FBI issued more than 9,200 NSLs in 2005 seeking information on more than 3,500 individuals. The report does not cover other similar letters that the FBI issues to obtain more limited information on individuals. The report also notes that 2,072 warrants for secret searches were issued in 2005 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), an 18 percent increase from 2004. This initial disclosure of official details on the use of NSLs and FISA search warrants represents the first step in greater congressional understanding and oversight of these controversial tools.

Specter introduced his amendment for greater disclosure of NSA spying on Apr. 27 without any cosponsors.