pair Federal and State law enforcement agencies' ability to effectively investigate organized criminal groups.” (emphasis added)

Although no studies have been conducted to measure the precise economic and societal benefits derived from the successes of Federal and State criminal law enforcement agencies against organized crime, it is evident that an abatement in successful organized crime investigations, due to the loss or impairment of one of law enforcement's most important tools-the court-ordered electronic surveillance technique would allow organized crime's damage to the U.S. economy to become substantially greater.

NARCOTICS AND DANGEROUS DRUGS

The greatest use of electronic surveillance by law enforcement relates to the federal and state governments' "war on drugs." Information reported in the Federal wiretap report by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts indicates that almost two thirds (62 percent) of all Title III governmental electronic surveillance is devoted to this critical national problem. The major drug trafficking organizations which import and distribute drugs, like any business organization, rely heavily on telecommunications to coordinate and carry out these criminal activities and to "launder" the billions of dollars in illegal drug proceeds. Accordingly, Federal and State law enforcement maximize their limited resources and focus electronic surveillance efforts on the main drug importation and distribution networks.

Although figures abound with regard to the billions of dollars in Federal, State, and local seizures of drugs, illegal drug proceeds (cash and other assets), etc., the fundamental harm to society is incalculable. It is impossible to fully identify the human, economic, and other societal harm brought about by drug dependency and addiction. In one attempt to quantify certain facets of this harm, the U.S. public health service has estimated the health, labor, and crime costs of drug abuse at $58.3 billion in 1988, exclusive of the value of the drugs themselves. D. Rice, et al., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Economic Cost of Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Illness: 1985, table 1, page 2 (1990). A 1992 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' study estimates the 1992 costs of drug abuse in the United States to be $168 billion or $675 per person. Approximately $40 billion a year are spent by users to procure these drugs.

Ultimately, the economic, societal, and personal harm of drug trafficking is also measured in daily "drive-by shootings" in neighborhood streets (where the blood of innocent children is spilled next to that of neighborhood drug lieutenants); substantially increased crime such as thefts, robberies, and murders brought about by drug use; violent "turf battles" to control drug distribution; lost productivity; employee absence; extensive and expensive health care with drug casualties that clog our hospital emergency rooms; as well as the sad occurrence of a generation of drug-dependent babies.

The drugs which are most responsible for this problem are essentially those (such as cocaine and heroin) which must be imported into the United States, generally by highly organized criminal groups, drug trafficking cartels and other syndicates, and thereafter transported over vast distances and distributed widely within the United States. These cartels and organizations rely heavily on telecommunications to carry out their illegal activities. The United States Government estimates that every year over 400 metric tons of cocaine and approximately 18 to 22 metric tons of heroin are smuggled into the United States.

Electronic surveillance is critical in the monitoring of the drug traffickers' "communications networks," providing law enforcement with the ability to identify all of the organization's drug traffickers and their illegal proceeds, as well as ultimately in dismantling those national and international drug trafficking organizations. Since national and international drug chieftains and local drug "kingpins" do not appear at drug buys or shipments, electronic surveillance ordinarily provides the only reliable method of linking the drug organizations' leaders with the enterprise, and frequently provides the only direct and persuasive evidence that will support a criminal conviction. Consequently, information derived from electronic surveillance is essential in successfully prosecuting those at the executive level of the drug trade. Recent examples of the critical role of electronic surveillance in drug investigations are:

• In a New York City-based drug trafficking investigation, an FBI-led task force conducted over 55 separate electronic surveillances (with numerous extensions). As of March 1993, this investigation has resulted in 222 arrests; 167 convictions; the dismantling of 15 major drug trafficking organizations/gangs, and the identification of 30 others; the resolution of some 40 New York area homicides, including the assassination of a NYCPD police officer and a New York state pa

role officer. Substantial quantities of drugs have been seized and over $8 million in assets have been seized. These efforts have resulted in a substantial reduction in drug-related homicides;

• The April, 1992, drug raid in Miami that netted 15,000 pounds of cocaine which was based on information developed through electronic surveillance. Evidence derived from electronic surveillance was instrumental in identifying the network's leader among the 22 defendants arrested;

• The 1991 DEA Herrera Drug Investigation in New York City resulting in the successful prosecution of 51 defendants, including key individuals linked to the call drug cartel, relied upon electronic surveillance.

Without the use of one of federal and state law enforcement's most important enforcement tools-electronic surveillance the volume of drugs would dramatically increase and the ease and means of drug importation and distribution would be dramatically enhanced through the drug traffickers' unfettered use of their drug "communications networks."

PUBLIC CORRUPTION AND GOVERNMENTAL FRAUD

Integrity in government is a keystone in any democracy. Corruption and fraud undermine the public's respect and confidence in governmental institutions and in the rule of law. By their nature, corruption and fraud can only flourish in secrecy, hidden from public view. As a result, normal, overt investigative techniques are in most cases totally unavailing. Hence, as a general proposition, law enforcement has found that electronic surveillance and undercover operations are critical means to effectively detect, investigate, and prosecute these insidious crime problems.

In several recent judicial corruption investigations, electronic surveillance evidence has directly led to the conviction of two federal district court judges and, in another case, to the indictment or plea of six current of former Dade County, Florida, State judges (four convicted, one acquitted, and one to be retried) and five attorneys (all convicted) for extortion and case fixing. Within the recent past, electronic surveillance helped build a corruption case involving the police force of a large midwestern city which included extortion and protection for gambling and narcotics distribution. Thirty police officers and 17 others were indicted, and 46 of the 47 either pled or have been found guilty.

Electronic surveillance has played an indispensable role in countering governmental fraud. For example, the "ill-wind" investigation (which was largely based upon 36 separate court-ordered electronic surveillances conducted across the United States) has had a tremendous impact upon fraud and abuse both within the government and within the industries that contract with the government. To date, the "illwind" investigation has resulted in 65 convictions (including high-level Department of Defense officials and eight corporations), sanctions against contractors, and over a quarter of a billion dollars ($271,000,000) in fines, restitutions, and recoveries ordered. Evidence necessary to obtain these convictions fines recoveries etc., would have been impossible to obtain without electronic surveillance.

The high cost of health care in the United States is a problem of tremendous importance to our society. Unfortunately, billions of health care dollars are wasted through fraud. With regard to health care fraud, electronic surveillance has been extremely important. In 1993, in New York, electronic surveillance of hardwired (fixed) and cellular (mobile) telephones produced critical evidence in a case involving widespread Medicare/Medicaid fraud carried out by numerous pharmacies and pharmacists. Seventy-nine (79) individuals, including 38 pharmacists, were indicted. To date, 79 individuals have been convicted or pled guilty and $6.6 million in assets are subject to seizure and forfeiture. Similarly, in 1993, in Detroit, electronic surveillance was instrumental in investigating and prosecuting a wide-spread Medicare/Medicaid fraud perpetrated by numerous pharmacies and pharmacists.

Thirty-two (32) pharmacies/pharmacists were prosecuted, and $4 million in criminal forfeitures are expected to follow. The FBI estimates that the health care fraud in of the foregoing cases alone ranged in the tens of millions of dollars.

Recently, a major governmental fraud case involving Russian emigre organized crime and the Gambino LCN organized crime family was successfully investigated through the use of an undercover operation and the substantial use of electronic surveillance to intercept a number of cellular telephones. The criminal scheme involved_defrauding the Federal Government and State governments of motor fuel taxes. The Department of Justice estimates than more than $1 billion in federal excise tax, funds that are earned for the highway trust fund for use in maintaining the nation's highway infrastructure, is illegally "skimmed" each year. An indictment in the foregoing case has been returned in Newark, charging 14 individuals with defrauding the Federal Government and the State of New Jersey out of more than

$60 million in tax revenues and with laundering $66.2 million resulting in 4 convictions to date. A number of the subjects in this investigation utilized cellular telephones and frequently changed cellular telephones in an effort to thwart electronic surveillance. The intercepted telephone conversations were critical to proving the involvement of the LCN in this Russian organized crime fraud against Federal and State Governments.

TERRORISM

A significant number of terrorist acts, including bombings and murders, have been prevented through the effective use of electronic surveillance. Many of these terrorist acts, if not prevented, likely would have had substantial national and/or international implications. In one case, the bombing of a foreign consulate in the United States was prevented, and the electronic surveillance evidence was used in the subsequent conviction of the principals. In another case, a terrorist rocket attack against a United States ally by a foreign-based.terrorist group was thwarted, and the electronic surveillance-based investigation led to the arrest of the principals and the prevention of the loss of life of scores of persons.

In 1986, the efforts of the violent El Rukn Chicago street gang to shoot down a commercial airliner within the United States with a stolen military weapon system was thwarted through electronic surveillance. The FBI's prevention of this act of state-sponsored terrorism, financed by Libya, which would have cost several hundred U.S. lives, was singularly attributable to the use of electronic surveillance but for the availability of this technique, another pan an 103 disaster could have occurred on American soil.

More recently, in 1993, electronic surveillance contributed to the indictment of individuals in the St. Louis-based cell of the ABU Nidal organization on RICO charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to bomb the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC in 1990, foreign-based terrorists were prevented from acquiring a stinger surface-to-air missile which was to be employed in a terrorist act wherein numerous people would undoubtedly have been killed. Also, in 1989, as a direct result of court-ordered electronic surveillance in a terrorist-related matter, information was obtained which resulted in the conviction of two individuals for the brutal homicide of their 16-year-old daughter.

Beyond the foregoing instances, over the last decade numerous other terrorist-related investigations have utilized electronic surveillance to: prevent a rocket attack against an FBI field office; prevent an attack on a nuclear power facility; solve several murders; identify the perpetrators of a $7,000,000 armed robbery; and solve and prevent several bombings by anti-Castro groups in Miami, Florida.

VIOLENT CRIME

Many violent crimes, including murder, have been solved and a significant number prevented by law enforcement's "real time" response to, and preventive actions taken as a result of conversations intercepted through electronic surveillance. Electronic surveillance has been used in combating and solving violent crimes perpetrated by both organized criminal groups and by individuals. The following are recent examples of cases in which electronic surveillance has been crucial in saving lives or preventing violent acts from occurring:

• Conversations of members of the New England LCN family were intercepted wherein the murders of three individuals were planned, and details concerning six prior murders were discussed. Of the three planned murders, two were prevented by the FBI; the third could not be prevented because of an inability to locate the victim prior to his murder.

• One of the most violent Asian organized crime gangs active in the New York City area is the Green Dragons, which, as of 1990, was directed telephonically by Kin Fei Wong from the People's Republic of China. The Green Dragons Gang perpetrated murder, armed robberies, home invasions, extortion, drug trafficking, and were involved in the obstruction of justice. Court-ordered electronic surveillance provided evidence of these crimes and also disclosed that the Green Dragons were about to engage in a "shoot out" with a rival Asian gang. Immediately acting upon this information, 16 members of the group were arrested by FBI agents and police officers and an imminent violent confrontation and loss of life were prevented. Based partly upon evidence derived from electronic surveillance, all defendants were found guilty of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, and numerous substantive counts which included murder, kidnapping, home invasions, armed robbery, extortion and bribery of a public official.

• In 1991, the murder of a United States court of appeals judge was solved and a conviction obtained based in part upon electronic surveillance information. • In a notable 1990 "sexual exploitation" of children case which relied heavily upon electronic surveillance, the FBI thwarted two individuals who were conspiring to abduct, torture, and kill a teenage boy for the purpose of making a "snuff murder" film.

In 1993, in Greene County, Ohio, a 10-year old triple homicide was finally solved, and evidence critical for successful prosecution was obtained through the use of electronic surveillance. The victims, two men and a pregnant woman, had been shot execution-style, and subsequently their throats had been slit and their skulls had been crushed by the murderers.

FOREIGN COUNTERINTELLIGENCE (FCI)

Because any discussion of the importance of FISA-based electronic surveillance would involve highly sensitive matters and highly classified information, suffice it to say that information derived from FISA electronic surveillance is critical to the president of the United States, the national security council, the intelligence community, the department of defense, and the state department. Such information is of great importance as our nation's leaders establish policy and safeguard the nation's defense and national security.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE LOSS OF ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE

As indicated above, society's most dangerous criminal organizations and groups rely heavily upon the use of telecommunications. Additionally, such organizations tend to take advantage of advanced telecommunications and services to conduct and carry out their illegal activities. Evidence is developing that indicates criminal organizations are also increasingly looking for ways to avoid law enforcement's electronic surveillance by frequently changing their telecommunications devices and telephone numbers, modifying and reprogramming their cellular telephone identification numbers and codes, and utilizing call-forwarding features, etc. increased use of cellular telephones, call-forwarding features, and evasive efforts have already had a negative impact upon electronic surveillance and law enforcement's ability to protect the public and effectively enforce the law. The foregoing cases directly demonstrate the public safety and law enforcement benefits directly attributable to the use of electronic surveillance. They also indicate the kind of negative impacts and societal harms that would result if there were a loss or diminishment of the electronic surveillance technique. Indeed, loss of a viable, effective electronic surveillance technique would result in:

• A substantial loss of life, attributable to the inability of law enforcement to prevent planned terrorist acts and murders;

• A substantial increase in economic harm (in the billions of dollars) to business, industry, labor unions, and society generally caused by the growth/emergence of organized crime groups and activities;

• A substantial increase in the corruption of legitimate business, industry, and labor unions caused by the growth/emergence of organized crime groups;

• A substantial increase in the availability and reduced cost of narcotics and illegal drugs, as well as the attendant personal, societal, and economic harm (numerous deaths, ravaged lives, and increased economic harm in the billions of dollars);

• A substantial increase in undetected and unprosecuted public corruption and fraud against the government (in the billions of dollars) and a resulting lost trust in government;

• A substantial increase in undetected and unprosecuted terrorist bombings, murders, and other acts with the attendant loss of numerous lives and billions of dollars in economic harm;

• A substantial increase in unprosecuted criminal cases of all kinds and the potential for a substantial increase in acquittals and hung juries occasioned by the lack of direct and persuasive electronic surveillance evidence.

ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE: SURGICAL USE WITHOUT ABUSE

In passing the Title III legislation, codified at 18 U.S.C. 2510-21, Congress enacted a comprehensive electronic surveillance regimen that carefully balanced the communications security needs and privacy rights of individuals with the legitimate needs of law enforcement to protect the public and effectively enforce the law. Above and beyond the traditional requirements of the fourth amendment compliance (such

as probable cause, the need for impartial judicial review and a warrant, particularity as to the object of the search, prompt execution of the electronic search, etc.), Congress also specified that electronic surveillance could be used, generally speaking, only as a last resort (when other investigative techniques failed or were too dangerous); only for serious felony offenses; and only for specific criminal communications. The acquisition of noncriminal, nonrelevant communications is forbidden and such communications must be carefully minimized.

Congress has also enacted an electronic surveillance regimen for use in intelligence based investigations, the foreign intelligence surveillance act of 1978 (FISA), codified at 50 U.S.C. 1801–1811. Contrary to the assertions of some, electronic surveillance conducted pursuant to Title III or FISA may not be (and are not) employed against individuals exercising their first amendment rights, such as by engaging in unpopular, political, or antigovernmental discourse.

An objective review and assessment of the Title III and FISA statutes, and of the conduct of electronic surveillance by law enforcement pursuant to these statutes, indicate that electronic surveillance has been conducted sparingly, judiciously, and in compliance with the letter of the law and the spirit of Congress' intent. As demonstrated by the lives saved and important investigations and prosecutions successfully completed, the Title III statutory regimen has served both society and law enforcement extremely well. Moreover, after 25 years of usage, there is no evidence of significant abuse. Statistics compiled by the FBI, which is charged with investigating violations of the Federal "wiretap" statute based upon acts of illegal electronic surveillance and wiretapping, indicate that instances of illegal wiretapping are very, very rare.

ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

When the Title III legislation was enacted by Congress in 1968, there was no specific provision for technical or other assistance to law enforcement. With regard to wire communications, law enforcement necessarily relies upon the telecommunication service provider's assistance in identifying the target's wire pairs and their line "appearances," and upon the service provider's furnishing of leased lines to enable the intercepted communications to be transmitted to a secure, law enforcement monitoring facility.

Although the service provider assistance requirement was thought to be self-evident and implicit in the Title III legislation, certain service providers initially resisted providing law enforcement with needed assistance, even when directed to do so by court order. See, e.g., Application of United States, 427 F.2d 639 (9th cir. 1970). as a result, Congress was compelled to amend the Title III statute in 1970 and expressly fix the assistance responsibility therein. The assistance provision, as amended, and codified at 18 U.S.C. 2518(4), states:

An order authorizing the interception of a wire, oral, or electronic communication under this chapter shall, upon request of the applicant, direct that a provider of wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian or other person shall furnish the applicant forthwith all information, facilities, and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the interception unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with the services that such service provider, landlord, custodian, or person is according the person whose communications are to be intercepted. any provider of wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian or other person furnishing such facilities or technical assistance shall be compensated therefore by the applicant for reasonable expenses incurred in providing such facilities or assistance. (emphasis added)

The FISA statute, enacted in 1978, contains a similar assistance provision, codified at 50 U.S.C. 1805(b)(2). So also do the pen register and trap and trace statutes. See 18 U.S.C. 3124(a)(b).

It is very important to understand that telephone companies historically have been extremely conservative, and often have declined to provide law enforcement with necessary technical assistance, even when served with court orders. For example, some telephone companies initially resisted providing law enforcement with even minor "leased line” assistance to allow law enforcement to carry out a pen register investigation, although served with a Federal search warrant. This resistance to pen register assistance was removed by the Supreme Court in United States v. New York Telephone Co., 434 U.S. 159 (1977). Some telephone companies also resisted providing relatively minor assistance to effect a trap and trace of dialed number information when served with a Federal court order. Federal court of appeals action was required to obtain such trap and trace assistance to trace dialed number