Congress grows a spine. The Pentagon’s Total Information Awareness meets legislative roadblock in the form of a Senate provision prohibiting its use to monitor Americans’ email, or do further research on the program without Congressional oversight.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., senior Democrat on the subcommittee, said of the program, “Jerry’s [Lewis, R-CA, head of the defense appropriation subcommittee] against it, and I’m against it, so we kept the Senate amendment.” Of the Pentagon, he said, “They’ve got some crazy people over there.”