Senate Holds Confirmation Hearing For James Comey For FBI Director

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration's nominee to become the next FBI director has told senators that FBI surveillance programs are subject to strict oversight designed to ensure that individual privacy rights are not violated.

James Comey said he's not familiar with details of the government's phone and Internet surveillance program. But he also said that collecting that type of information can be "a valuable tool" in counterterrorism.

Comey appeared Tuesday before a friendly Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering his nomination for FBI director. Both Democrats and Republicans spoke approvingly of Comey's past record in government.

Comey says federal judges who oversee government intelligence programs are "anything but a rubber stamp." But he agreed to work with committee chairman Patrick Leahy on what Leahy calls "common sense improvements" to surveillance laws.


Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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