The ACLU has issued a press statement saying that a presidential fiat (aka signing statement) issued in December has greatly expanded the government's secret program of opening first class mail. About 10,000 pieces of mail are opened each year without warrants and only upon approval of the Postal Inspectors Office if there is credible evidence that the mail contains dangerous materials such as a bomb. The figure does not include national security matters. The signing statement accompanied H.R. 6407, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. The Act reiterated the requirement for a warrant to open mail if the matter is not within the narrow exceptions defined in postal regulations. ACLU has filed a FOIA request seeking more information about the expanded program of snooping which it believes violates the FISA law as well as the Constitution. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was passed in response to the civil rights abuses during the dark days of Hoover's FBI which extensively spied on domestic anti-war radicals and black militants. The CIA's COINTEL program also included the opening of mail related to individuals on a "Watch List".[photo credit: 12 Warning Signs of Fascism, http://www.mvp-seattle.com/pages/pageFascism.htm]