On Wednesday, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reported that the Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center, which coordinates aerial anti-terrorism radar and detection sites across the country, was used to discover that Democratic Texas legislators were in Ardmore, Okla.
"I am very concerned that federal resources intended to protect homeland security may have been used to track law-abiding individuals who posed no security threat," Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas, wrote in a letter to Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge Thursday.
"If federal resources were indeed used for this purpose, it appears that federal laws or departmental policies may have been violated, and an investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security should be initiated forthwith," the letter said.
He asked Ridge to provide him the names of the people requested the search for the aircraft and who authorized the mission, and tapes of recordings allegedly made of the request. According to Turner the aircraft in question belonged to former Texas House Speaker Pete Laney, who Turner said was a veteran Texas legislator with a record for public service.
Turner used a portion of a public hearing on Homeland Security bio-terrorism plans to make public his letter.
The members of the Texas state Legislature went to Oklahoma to avoid being detained by Texas law enforcement officials and forced to attend a meeting of the Legislature where a controversial gerrymandering bill is under consideration. Turner said that Laney was a close friend of President George W. Bush and had introduced Bush's address when the president's victory was confirmed.
The coordination center was one of the facilities brought into Homeland Security last year to track dangerous aircraft that might have hostile intent. It can gather data from military and civilian surveillance agencies.
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