"Loose lips" kill Americans, top Republican says - Yahoo! News: " 'Loose lips' kill Americans, top Republican says By Andy Sullivan
Wed Jun 28, 7:37 PM ET


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Declaring that 'loose lips' kill Americans, a congressional Republican leader said on Wednesday the House of Representatives would debate a resolution condemning the U.S. media for exposing details of secret intelligence programs.
ADVERTISEMENT

The move heaps more criticism on The New York Times and other newspapers that reported last week on a secret program by the U.S. Treasury Department that monitors private bank records in an effort to track terrorist organizations.
'What we're talking about is people who are leaking classified information. It's not news. It's classified information our government is using to fight terrorists,' said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, of Illinois.
'Loose lips kill American people,' he added.
The nonbinding resolution, released later in the day, said the House 'expects the cooperation of all news media organizations in protecting the lives of Americans and the capability of the government to identify, disrupt and capture terrorists by not disclosing classified intelligence programs such as the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program.'
A floor vote is scheduled for Thursday, said a spokesman for House Majority Leader John Boehner.
News reports of the bank-monitoring program and a separate surveillance effort that monitors phone traffic without a court warrant have drawn criticism from President George W. Bush and other Republicans who say coverage of the programs undermines their effectiveness.
'There can be no excuse for anyone entrusted with vital intelligence to leak it, and no excuse for any newspaper to print it,' Bush said at "