Resolution resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance. Violations

THE

“The” implies there is only one – as in the USFG.

Cambridge Dictionaries Online, 2007.

The - used to refer to things or people when only one exists at any one time:

the specifies

Random House 6 (Unabridged Dictionary, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/the)

The (used, esp. before a noun, with a specifying or particularizing effect, as opposed to the indefinite or generalizing force of the indefinite article a or an): the book you gave me; Come into the house.

Indicates a proper noun

Random House 6 (Unabridged Dictionary, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/the)

(used to mark a proper noun, natural phenomenon, ship, building, time, point of the compass, branch of endeavor, or field of study as something well-known or unique): the sun; the Alps; the Queen Elizabeth; the past; the West.

‘The’ means all parts.

Merriam-Webster's Online Collegiate Dictionary, 5

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

the 4 -- used as a function word before a noun or a substantivized adjective to indicate reference to a group as a whole