LEXINGTON - Area Congressman Edward Markey, D-Malden, along with an auditorium-filled with 350 people, issued a clarion call last night to the federal government to stop inroads on privacy and the use of domestic spying at the Museum of Our Natural Heritage in Lexington.

The message to President George Bush, the National Security Administration, the CIA and the FBI, along with enforcers of the Patriots Act was to pull back activities and cut out some activities entirely.

Working off a 9/11 concern, along with war powers in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. government, they said, has gone too far with domestic spying, wiretaps and intrusion into rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

In addition to Cong. Markey, panelists Carol Rose of the American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts and Mark Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington weighed in heavily on the encroachment of personal rights and privacy in the post 9/11 time period.

In addition, they said the intrusions have become more frequent and have come in different ways with the presidency and its agencies basically unaccountable to the American people in their pursuits.

Cong. Markey had billed the evening as an "Emergency Town Meeting."

With 90 minutes of a presentation, including the debunking of 8 "myths" by President Bush, there was a half-hour open town meeting forum with residents venting on the federal government and the invasion of person liberties guaranteed in the Constitution.

"Tonight, we are sounding the alarm," said Markey at the outset. "There is a great threat afoot in our country."

Using Revolutionary War references, Markey felt, "The revolution has endured." And in the end, he said he would raise heck in Washington D.C. when he returned after the holiday recess and asked others "to spread the alarm" about violation of person rights in this country, "especially to those in other parts of the country."

The ACLU's Rose added, "Let us get the news out and not just sit out. Let's take action."

Rotenberg called it "an extraordinary moment in domestic security; we are living a constitutional moment."

In handing out literature, the two groups focused on such issues as "Civil Liberties in Peril; Make Your Voice Heard" and "Standing Up For Liberty." Both urged individuals to get memberships in their individual organizations.

Town Meeting members came from near and far, including Markey's 7th Congressional District that included Winchester, Woburn and Wakefield, and as far away as Leominster. At one point, Markey, who referenced his being #14 in seniority in the House of Representatives and 8th with Democrats, including a membership of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that Bush, the CIA and others said they were keeping key Congressional members informed of key events "but it's all a myth."

"I never heard from them," he said.

Markey and the gathering said the president and agencies were by-passing the process on such things as wire taps and cell-phone checks and credit card surveillance and similar checks. The Bush administration, he said, was running wide open with no checks. In the months ahead, Markey said he would lobby for much stronger Congressional involvement in such activities.

For a half-hour, the U.S. Constitutions IV Amendment remained on a power-point presentation on stage that included "The right of the people to be secure in their person..."

Procedures have been set up for emergency powers in wartime for the president and there are laws on getting court approvals for wire taps, the group noted, however, they said the executive privilege of the president, along with FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) courts rubber-stamping requests, has allowed the president and agencies to go unchecked.

With constant references to the "birthplace of democracy," Markey noted legal procedures used by the CIA or FBI, for example, to get a court order for a wiretap or to fight organized crime but have gone far beyond the laws on the books with no checks.

Rotenberg said the country "has no greater champion than Ed Markey" on the issues of keeping government eavesdropping on common citizens in check.

Rose said at another point, "we need oversight controls" and received a big hand from the crowd.

And, at other junctures, Markey intoned that, "It is now clear that the National Security Act has allowed access to phones and Internet records of Americans, both domestically and internationally."

As a 30-year member of the Telecommunications Committee in one way of another, Markey noted that major phone companies such as AT&T and Bell South have been "sharing information" with the government.

Rotenberg added there are laws protecting the privacy of customers but that agencies have been getting calling records easily.

The Telecommunications Committee, he said, constantly monitors the power of new technologies with an eye on privacy and fairness. "It's all about the American citizens," he added, noted a healthy debate is mandatory at this juncture in history to review all surveillance, eavesdropping and record keeping.

The ACLU's Rose said at another point it was fortunate the district and country had concerned Congressmen like Edward Markey and received a big hand from the gathering. Rose put a lot of emphasis on oversight on such surveillance and record collecting activities.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Justice Dept. came in for criticism for remaining silent on many of the issues with Gonzales offering approvals on many of the Bush requests.

Markey noted at another point the FISA court giving approval for surveillance has had 19,000 requests since 1978 with only 4 denies. In 2004, he said, there were 1,758 with none rejected and 54 modified.

Both Rose and Rotenberg are Harvard trained attorneys, who have many years experience in privacy issues. The Electronic Privacy Information Center had done such recent work on passport problems, tax record requests, tracking of air and ship passengers, credit checks and renewal of the Patriots Act.

The ACLU concentrates on privacy issues and such things as the Patriots Act, search of homes, collecting information, taking away property, spying on lawful religious and political organizations, suspect terrorism, secret trials and labeling people "terrorists."

(Web sites: www.aclu-mass.org, www.epic.org and www.house.gov/markey)