Pocan Sponsors Bill to Rein in NSA Overreach & Protect Privacy Rights of Americans

Press Release

.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) today became an original co-sponsor of the bipartisan and bicameral USA FREEDOM Act that would rein in the National Security Agency's (NSA) blanket surveillance policies and protect the privacy rights of all Americans. The legislation, which is sponsored in the House by fellow Wisconsinite and Patriot Act author Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-05), would reform the Patriot Act by ensuring greater transparency and oversight over domestic surveillance programs and increasing the safeguards meant to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens.

"We fight a futile battle to protect our liberties from outside if we cannot protect them from within," Pocan said. "While ensuring our national security must remain our top priority, Wisconsinites are rightfully concerned that the NSA's overreach threaten their constitutional right to privacy. The USA FREEDOM Act takes important steps to reinstitute the proper balance between security and liberty, and I thank my Wisconsin colleague Congressman Sensenbrenner for his leadership on this effort."

Earlier this year, Pocan voted for the Amash/Conyers amendment to the defense funding bill that would have restricted the NSA's ability to use the Patriot Act to conduct blanket surveillance on Americans not under investigation.

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