Majority of U.S. Adults Feel President Is Justified in Authorizing Wiretaps

Without Court Approval to Monitor Suspected Terrorists

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Although almost half (47%) of
U.S. adults are not familiar with the National Security Agency program
that involves monitoring communications of people in the United States
suspected of having ties with terrorist organizations, a clear
majority (69%) of U.S. adults believe that President Bush is sometimes
or often justified in authorizing wiretaps without court
authorization. Concurrently, adults give the Bush administration a
modest approval rating in preventing a terrorist attack in the United
States since September 11, 2001, though this rating is substantially
lower than the approval ratings given in 2004.

These are the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 1,016 U.S. adults
surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive(R) between February 7 and
14, 2006.

Some of the key findings from this survey include:

* Two-thirds (66%) of U.S. adults think it is likely that there will be a

major terrorist attack in this country in the next 12 months. This is a

sharp increase from June 2005, when 55 percent U.S. adults thought this

was likely.

* By 52 to 48 percent, a slim majority of U.S. adults feel that the Bush

administration has done an excellent (25%) or pretty good job (27%) of

preventing a terrorist attack since September 11, 2001. Since February

2004, there has been steady erosion in the percentage of adults saying

the Bush administration has done an excellent or pretty good job of

preventing a major terrorist attack on the United States. Two years ago,

a larger majority (70%) felt the Bush administration was doing a pretty

good or excellent job.

The Harris Poll also explored U.S. adults' knowledge and opinions of
the fact that President Bush has authorized, without court approval,
the National Security Administration to monitor telephone calls and
emails between people in the United States suspected of having ties
with terrorist organizations. Considering the media has reported
heavily on this topic, it may come as a surprise that just over half
(52%) of adults report being either very (13%) or somewhat (40%)
familiar with this program. The remaining 47 percent say that they are
either not very familiar (24%) or not familiar at all (24%).

Nonetheless, the president can take some consolation in the fact that
almost seven in 10 (68%) adults think that he is justified in
authorizing wiretaps without court authorization. A substantial 43
percent think the president is often justified, with another quarter
(25%) saying that he is sometimes justified. Less than one-third (31%)
say that the president is not justified, with 13 percent saying he is
rarely justified and 18 percent saying he is never justified.

* As one might expect, most Republicans (92%) say that the president is

either often (67%) or sometimes (25%) justified in authorizing wiretaps

without court authorization. Independents also support the president on

this issue, with seven in 10 (70%) saying he is justified. However, what

is perhaps most surprising is that Democrats appear to be split on this

issue, with half (50%) saying he is justified and half (49%) saying he

is not justified.

* Among adults who are familiar with the NSA program, 48 percent say that

the president is often justified, and another 21 percent say he is

sometimes justified. The results are similar for those who are not

familiar with the program, though those who say the president is often

justified is 10 percentage points lower at 38 percent, and those who say

he is sometimes justified is nine percentage points higher at 30

percent.

Reflecting on these results, Dr. Alan F. Westin of Columbia University
and president of Privacy and American Business states: "Despite heavy
criticism by civil liberties supporters, the Bush administration's
warrantless monitoring of overseas calls by suspected terrorists is
now clearly viewed as often or sometimes justified by more than two
out of three Americans. However, I believe the current move in
Congress to create a new and updated court review procedure fitting
the realities of terrorist communication activities would also command
strong majority support. It would tap into the majority belief that
judicial review of executive surveillance operations, if it does not
hamstring anti-terrorist investigations, still represents the
essential American way of administering government surveillance
operations."

TABLE 1

RATING OF BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOR PREVENTING TERRORIST ATTACK "How
would you rate the job that the Bush administration has done
preventing a

terrorist attack in the United States since September 11, 2001 -- excellent,

pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Base: All Adults

February September June February

2004 2004 2005 2006

% % % %

Positive (NET) 70 62 57 52

Excellent 33 29 23 25

Pretty Good 37 33 34 27

Negative (NET) 30 37 41 47

Only Fair 20 22 23 29

Poor 10 15 18 19

Not sure/Decline to answer * 1 2 *

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%

TABLE 2

LIKELIHOOD OF MAJOR TERRORIST ATTACK IN NEXT 12 MONTHS "How likely do
you think it is that there will be a major terrorist attack in

this country in the next 12 months?"

Base: All Adults

Sept. 2004 June 2005 Feb. 2006

% % %

Likely (NET) 67 55 66

Very likely 17 15 17

Somewhat likely 50 40 49

Not Likely (NET) 28 43 32

Not very likely 20 31 23

Not likely at all 8 12 10

Not sure/Decline to answer 5 2 1

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 3 FAMILIARITY WITH NSA'S PROGRAM OF MONITORING COMMUNICATIONS
BETWEEN PEOPLE IN

U.S. SUSPECTED OF TIES TO TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS

"How familiar are you with the National Security Administration's
program of monitoring telephone calls and emails between people in the
U.S. suspected of

having ties to al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations?"

Base: All Adults

Feb. 2006

%

Familiar (NET) 52

Very familiar 13

Somewhat familiar 40

Not Familiar (NET) 47

Not very familiar 24

Not familiar at all 24

Not sure/Decline to answer *

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%.

TABLE 4A

PRESIDENT JUSTIFIED IN AUTHORIZING WIRETAPS OF U.S. CITIZENS SUSPECTED OF

TERRORISM - BY PARTY ID

"President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to use wiretaps on

U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism on their overseas calls, without court

authorization. Do you think that in circumstances like this the president is

often justified, sometimes justified, rarely justified or never
justified in authorizing wiretaps on U.S. citizens suspected of
terrorism on overseas calls

without court authorization?"

Base: All Adults

Total Republican Democrat Independent

% % % %

Justified (NET) 69 92 50 70

Often justified 43 67 28 38

Sometimes justified 25 25 49 32

Not Justified (NET) 30 8 50 29

Rarely justified 13 5 20 12

Never justified 18 3 30 16

Not sure/Decline to

answer 1 * * *

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%.

TABLE 4B

PRESIDENT JUSTIFIED IN AUTHORIZING WIRETAPS OF U.S. CITIZENS SUSPECTED OF

TERRORISM - BY FAMILIARITY WITH NSA PROGRAM

"President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to use wiretaps on

U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism on their overseas calls, without court

authorization. Do you think that in circumstances like this the president is

often justified, sometimes justified, rarely justified or never
justified in authorizing wiretaps on U.S. citizens suspected of
terrorism on overseas calls

without court authorization?"

Base: All Adults

Familiar with Not Familiar

Total NSA Program with NSA Program

% % %

Justified (NET) 68 69 68

Often justified 43 48 38

Sometimes justified 25 21 30

Not Justified (NET) 30 31 30

Rarely justified 13 10 16

Never justified 18 21 14

Not sure/Decline to answer 1 * 2

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

* Less than 0.5%.

Methodology

The Harris Poll(R) was conducted by telephone within the United States
between February 7 and 14, 2006 among a nationwide cross section of
1,016 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race,
education, number of adults, number of voice/telephone lines in the
household, region and size of place were weighted where necessary to
align them with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95
percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of
plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire
U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling
error for the sub-samples of Republicans (334), Democrats (324),
Independents (265), those familiar with the NSA program (587) and
those not familiar with the NSA program (426) is higher and varies.
Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in
all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical
calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be
interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order,
interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening
(e.g., for likely voters). It is impossible to quantify the errors
that may result from these factors.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the
National Council on Public Polls.

J26827

Q615, Q625, Q630, 640

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Press Contact:

Jennifer Cummings

Harris Interactive

585-214-7720

The Harris Poll(R) #18, February 29, 2006

By David Krane, vice president, Public Affairs and Government Research

Practice, Harris Interactive(R) SOURCE Harris Interactive Inc.