Newsletter: House Passes Major NSA Reform Legislation

Statement

Dear Friend,

This last week, the House moved forward on major NSA reform -- something I have been urging for several years. In fact, several of the pieces of the reform measure are very close to the provisions of bills I have introduced in the past.

Now the ball is in the Senate's court, and I hope they move quickly.

Under the recently declassified telephone metadata program under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the government collects, stores and searches vast numbers of domestic phone records in order to determine whether there is a link in terrorism cases. This collection is done in bulk with no individualized finding or specific order from the courts, but rather a standing order to telecommunications companies to turn over many of their phone records, though not the content of the communication.

I believe that this bulk collection should stop, as it is unnecessary and there is a better way to get the information we need that is more protective of the privacy interests of the public.

I believe that when it comes to any surveillance program, Members of Congress should ask themselves several key questions. Is it constitutional, and if so, is it effective? If our actions were to become public, would we be able to defend them to our citizens and our allies overseas? And are there alternative approaches that provide the same capability that are more protective of the legitimate expectations of privacy of the American people?

In answering those questions, it's clear there's a better way. The House Intelligence and Judiciary committees have worked together to find that middle course, and the USA Freedom Act -- our compromise legislation -- passed overwhelmingly in the House.

This legislation would end bulk collection, not just of telephone metadata but all metadata, and create an entirely new, tailored procedure in which telephone companies would maintain their own records in a searchable format. The government would be required to go to a court to get an order to search those numbers, just like domestic law enforcement. It would reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court by introducing nongovernment lawyers and technical experts charged with arguing on behalf of the privacy interests of the American people and it would require declassification of significant opinions. Finally, it would enable technology companies to report in greater detail about the type and numbers of requests they get from the government.

Now this legislation moves on to the Senate, which must pass it this week, or the capabilities go away completely. It's my hope that in the Senate, supporters of the status quo and advocates for reform will come to the table before time runs out or we will end up with a result that benefits no one.

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