Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today cosponsored a bipartisan measure to increase the accountability and transparency of government surveillance programs. The USA FREEDOM Act would end dragnet collection of Americans’ phone records and ensure that privacy rights and civil liberties concerns bear on surveillance programs.

The bill also includes a proposal that Larsen first put forward earlier this year in the Government Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013 that allows technology and telecommunications firms to tell their customers when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court requires the handover of user data.

“Every day we learn a little more about how the U.S. government overstepped its bounds by collecting vast amounts of data on American citizens outside of targeted anti-terrorism investigations,” Larsen said. “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which is supposed to block this behavior, has clearly fallen down on the job. Congress needs to step in to ensure these programs are limited, transparent and accountable.

“The USA FREEDOM Act puts into place reforms that I have called for, limiting the use of the programs, giving proper consideration to privacy and civil liberties, and giving the public much more knowledge about what information their government is collecting and why.

“Enhanced surveillance tools are appropriate when they are used in targeted and limited investigations of foreign nationals to protect Americans. The U.S. government has clearly gone too far and it’s time to rein it in.”

In August, Larsen laid out a set of reforms that he thought should be implemented. Those measures, which were incorporated into the USA FREEDOM Act, include:

• Allowing technology and telecommunications firms to disclose when they are required to turn over user data to the government;
• Publicly disclosing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinions that contain significant interpretations or construction of statues and authorities; and
• Allowing a public advocate in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to argue for privacy and civil liberties protections.

The bill was authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisc. An outline of the legislation and a list of endorsers are available here. The text of the bill is available here.