Vote explanation: I believe that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good and compromise is what makes our democracy work. So I was inclined to find a way to support the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361) today which, while far from perfect, makes significant improvements over existing domestic spying laws. In fact, I was an original cosponsor of the legislation to end mass surveillance and rein in the NSA. However, after passing out of two House committees unanimously, the legislation was amended behind closed doors due to pressure from the administration and rushed to the House floor by leadership. These changes, while purporting to stop bulk surveillance, could potentially allow the NSA to target groups or collections of people (e.g. everyone within a zip code) instead of individuals based on probable cause that they are connected to terrorist activity. Several members of Congress attempted to have a public discussion of the ramifications and to introduce amendments to improve the legislation but were rebuffed and denied the opportunity to improve or even debate improvements. Legislating in secret and without an open discussion of the important 4th Amendment constitutional issues at stake is exactly the wrong way to reform an organization that has already proven it will use any and every loophole to collect data and invade the privacy of U.S. citizens. Though it passed, I hope the Senate will make the necessary improvements to protect the 4th Amendment, including definitively prohibiting bulk data collection of ordinary Americans phone calls and other communications. Needless to say, I voted no.
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 22:00:00 +0000
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