File photo of US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
The US Congress has demanded Obama administration to answer questions over the governmentâ„¢s recent spying revelations.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor expressed frustration on Monday over the governmentâ„¢s handling of the recent spying scandal involving surveillance programs conducted by the largest US spy institution, the National Security Agency (NSA).
Many lawmakers Å“donâ„¢t know what happened and weâ„¢ve got to find out,” the highest-ranking Jewish member of the Congress said, adding, Å“Now the [Obama] administration which is responsible for implementing this program is going to come forward and brief us on the Hill.”
The comment comes as the NSA ordered one of the nationâ„¢s major phone companies to collect and submit phone records of tens of millions of its American customers under a Å“top-secret” court order issued in April.
The revelation further confirmed public suspicions of US government surveillance measures on its citizens under laws hastily passed in the wake of the suspicious September 11, 2001, incidents which killed nearly 3,000 people.
Despite public outrage, Obama and the Director of US National Intelligence Agency James Clapper defended the massive surveillance efforts as Å“legal,” longstanding and well-known to the Congress.
On Sunday, meanwhile, former NSA system administrator and ex-CIA undercover agent, Edward Snowden, revealed that he was the source behind leaking the information about the massive NSA surveillance of American electronic communications.
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This article originally appeared on: Press TV