On March 26th, Rep. John Conyers recognized the efforts of “eight individuals whose actions in 1971 helped uncover the illegal actions by some working on behalf of our own government to suppress the civil rights of many of our citizens.” These men and women were part of a group called the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI; they obtained thousands of documents highlighting illegal surveillance programs being conducted by members of the intelligence community on American citizens. The information and groundbreaking journalism it sparked led to a national debate about domestic surveillance programs, as well as the “first congressional investigations of all intelligence agencies” and “congressional intelligence oversight committees.”
You can read the full text of Rep. Conyers’ public recognition of these brave citizens, who risked everything to expose governmental abuse HERE.