Press Releases
Larsen: USA Freedom Act Helps Bring Sunlight Into Government Surveillance
Washington, DC,
May 13, 2015
Today, Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, voted for and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to end the government’s bulk collection of phone record data. The bipartisan USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048) also puts in place new processes by which the government must get approval to obtain phone records on a case-by-case basis from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Larsen has been a vocal advocate of reforming the government’s surveillance programs following revelations about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk data collection. Last Congress, Larsen introduced the Government Surveillance Transparency Act, which aimed to increase transparency by allowing technology companies to disclose the volume and type of information they were ordered to turn over to the government. A version of this proposal is included in the USA Freedom Act. “The NSA’s dragnet data collection is unacceptable. It is past time for Congress to introduce some sunlight into government surveillance and reform the NSA’s invasive collection of information about the American people. The USA Freedom Act moves our country in the right direction toward respecting the public’s right to privacy and protecting national security. “The bill puts a stop to indiscriminate bulk collection of information about Americans. And it demands much more transparency about the government’s surveillance activities, in part by allowing tech companies to disclose orders from the government to hand over phone data. The American public deserves to know what data the government collects. “As with most compromises, this bill is not perfect. I would like to see the Senate improve the bill in a couple of ways: by strengthening the privacy advocate position created on the FISC, and by clarifying NSA’s procedures for destroying information it collects that is not related to terrorism investigations. “NSA’s abuse of power must be checked. The reforms in the USA Freedom Act are not the end of the conversation, but they make progress toward protecting Americans’ civil liberties and ensuring national security,” Larsen said. Sections of the Patriot Act under which the government conducts surveillance are set to expire on June 1. The USA Freedom Act addresses these provisions. ### |