SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
House Members Join Hands to Pass 'Weak' NSA Reform
Dismayed civil liberties groups say they are now looking to the Senate for a better version of the bill
May 22, 2014
A "watered down" NSA reform bill that may curb, but certainly not end, the bulk surveillance of innocent people passed the House Thursday morning with bi-partisan support.
The USA Freedom Act passed with a final vote of 303 to 121, thanks to backing from a majority of Republicans and Democrats. In the end, 51 Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against.
The bill, conceived as a response to public outrage following revelations made possible by leaks from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, was initially supported by some civil liberties groups. However, as previously reported by Common Dreams, their approval diminished sharply as a key protections were stripped from the measure while loopholes were added.
Critics charge that pressure from the Obama administration on House leaders was instrumental in weakening the bill.
The new version of the bill (pdf) includes a more expansive definition of the "specific selection term," which determines who the government is allowed to spy on by compelling phone companies to turn over their records.
It also lowers the bar on requirements for what the telecom industry must report to the public about records requests from the government.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) immediately released the following tweet:
Immediately following the bill's passage, organizations indicated they are now looking to the Senate for a stronger version of the bill.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation declared:
"The USA FREEDOM Act leaves open the possibility for the government to engage in broad surveillance of cities, regions, or even entire states under a single court order, and to obtain records on the Internet traffic of large numbers of people," said Center for Democracy and Technology Senior Counsel Harley Geiger in a statement. "We cannot support a bill that continues to authorize untargeted surveillance at such a massive scale."
Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office stated, "While we share the concerns of many - including members of both parties who rightly believe the bill does not go far enough - without [the bill] we would be left with no reform at all, or worse, a House Intelligence Committee bill that would have cemented bulk collection of Americans' communications into law. We will fight to secure additional improvements in the Senate."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is the editor of Workday Magazine and a contributing editor for In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
A "watered down" NSA reform bill that may curb, but certainly not end, the bulk surveillance of innocent people passed the House Thursday morning with bi-partisan support.
The USA Freedom Act passed with a final vote of 303 to 121, thanks to backing from a majority of Republicans and Democrats. In the end, 51 Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against.
The bill, conceived as a response to public outrage following revelations made possible by leaks from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, was initially supported by some civil liberties groups. However, as previously reported by Common Dreams, their approval diminished sharply as a key protections were stripped from the measure while loopholes were added.
Critics charge that pressure from the Obama administration on House leaders was instrumental in weakening the bill.
The new version of the bill (pdf) includes a more expansive definition of the "specific selection term," which determines who the government is allowed to spy on by compelling phone companies to turn over their records.
It also lowers the bar on requirements for what the telecom industry must report to the public about records requests from the government.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) immediately released the following tweet:
Immediately following the bill's passage, organizations indicated they are now looking to the Senate for a stronger version of the bill.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation declared:
"The USA FREEDOM Act leaves open the possibility for the government to engage in broad surveillance of cities, regions, or even entire states under a single court order, and to obtain records on the Internet traffic of large numbers of people," said Center for Democracy and Technology Senior Counsel Harley Geiger in a statement. "We cannot support a bill that continues to authorize untargeted surveillance at such a massive scale."
Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office stated, "While we share the concerns of many - including members of both parties who rightly believe the bill does not go far enough - without [the bill] we would be left with no reform at all, or worse, a House Intelligence Committee bill that would have cemented bulk collection of Americans' communications into law. We will fight to secure additional improvements in the Senate."
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare is the editor of Workday Magazine and a contributing editor for In These Times. She is a former Staff Writer at Common Dreams. She comes from a background in independent journalism for publications including The Intercept, The Nation, and Tom Dispatch.
A "watered down" NSA reform bill that may curb, but certainly not end, the bulk surveillance of innocent people passed the House Thursday morning with bi-partisan support.
The USA Freedom Act passed with a final vote of 303 to 121, thanks to backing from a majority of Republicans and Democrats. In the end, 51 Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against.
The bill, conceived as a response to public outrage following revelations made possible by leaks from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, was initially supported by some civil liberties groups. However, as previously reported by Common Dreams, their approval diminished sharply as a key protections were stripped from the measure while loopholes were added.
Critics charge that pressure from the Obama administration on House leaders was instrumental in weakening the bill.
The new version of the bill (pdf) includes a more expansive definition of the "specific selection term," which determines who the government is allowed to spy on by compelling phone companies to turn over their records.
It also lowers the bar on requirements for what the telecom industry must report to the public about records requests from the government.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) immediately released the following tweet:
Immediately following the bill's passage, organizations indicated they are now looking to the Senate for a stronger version of the bill.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation declared:
"The USA FREEDOM Act leaves open the possibility for the government to engage in broad surveillance of cities, regions, or even entire states under a single court order, and to obtain records on the Internet traffic of large numbers of people," said Center for Democracy and Technology Senior Counsel Harley Geiger in a statement. "We cannot support a bill that continues to authorize untargeted surveillance at such a massive scale."
Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office stated, "While we share the concerns of many - including members of both parties who rightly believe the bill does not go far enough - without [the bill] we would be left with no reform at all, or worse, a House Intelligence Committee bill that would have cemented bulk collection of Americans' communications into law. We will fight to secure additional improvements in the Senate."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.