Washington, DC – Today U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), a member of the House Judiciary Committee and Whip of the Congressional Black Caucus, released the following statement on the FBI warrantless aerial surveillance program:

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation may have crossed the line and violated the privacy rights of the American people with its secretive warrantless aerial surveillance program.

It is important to provide our law enforcement agencies with the tools necessary to keep the people of this nation safe. However, there should be a balance. The prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures found in the Fourth Amendment must be respected, or our liberty will methodically perish.

The Judiciary Committee should conduct a full-scale inquiry into whether the FBI’s aerial surveillance program is unlawful.”