The USA Freedom Act failed cloture in the Senate tonight. The bill contained some good parts and some bad parts. It would have reformed section 215 of the Patriot Act to end bulk collection of phone records on Americans, required government to report how many Americans have been targeted under 215, give private companies more options to report to the public about the FISA orders that they receive, and a few other things. This is why Mitch McConnell opposed it and said that it would be tying our hands behind our back. The bad side is that it would have renewed parts of the Patriot Act such as the lone wolf provision and the roving wire tap provision until 2017. I know some civil liberties groups were hoping that those parts of the bill would be taken out in the amendment process. This is why Rand Paul voted against the bill, framing it as a Patriot Act renewal. Make no mistake: the Patriot Act is still in effect. The Patriot Act will come up for a renewal in June 2015. With Mitch even opposing the USA Freedom Act, Im doubtful that well get any good NSA reforms next session when the Patriot Act comes up for a vote. I hope Im wrong though.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 02:59:32 +0000
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