Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Statement on President Obama's Proposed NSA Reforms

Statement

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) today released the following statement regarding President Barack Obama's proposed reforms to the National Security Agency's (NSA) surveillance of Americans:

"I commend the President's stated commitment to review current practices that allow for the sweeping collection and storage of innocent Americans' phone records and electronic communications. The seriousness of this civil liberties violation must be understood. More must be done to harness our vast resources to ensure that our security as a nation remains strong, while also using new technologies to end indiscriminate data collection, in favor of a system that targets dangerous terrorism suspects.

"The President's proposal to provide more transparency for the classified opinions issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is a step in the right direction and I strongly support his call to create a panel of independent attorneys to argue on behalf of the American people for the civil liberties that generations of our selfless heroes have fought for and fallen to protect. I will continue to work toward reforms that uphold the civil liberties rooted in our Constitution, and ensure protections are in place to prevent these types of violations from continuing to occur."

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is an original co-sponsor of the USA Freedom Act which reforms Section 215 of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act, and has been widely blamed for the bulk collection of innocent Americans' personal data.

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