Congressional Action Against the New York Times

Republican House leaders want to introduce a resolution condemning the New York Times for its reporting on the international bank-monitoring program. On the Senate side, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts, asked National Intelligence Director John Negroponte to assess the damage done by the leak.

Reports The Hill:

House Republican leaders are expected to introduce a resolution today condemning The New York Times for publishing a story last week that exposed government monitoring of banking records.

The resolution is expected to condemn the leak and publication of classified documents, said one Republican aide with knowledge of the impending legislation.

The resolution comes as Republicans from the president on down condemn media organizations for reporting on the secret government program that tracked financial records overseas through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), an international banking cooperative.

Reports the New York Post:

The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday asked America's top spy to assess the damage done to the nation by New York Times leaks of top-secret intelligence.

Sen. Pat Roberts' letter to Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte came one day after President Bush blasted the "disgraceful" Times leaks and said they caused "great harm."...

Roberts (R-Kan.) requested "an assessment of the damage" because "we have been unable to persuade the media to act responsibly and protect the means by which we protect this nation."

Roberts said he's "particularly interested in the damage at tributable" to leaks on a terrorist surveillance program and terrorist finance-tracking program; both ran in the Times.

Roberts told CNN The Times should replace its motto "All the news that's fit to print" with "All the classified material that is endangering our country and making it less safe."