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Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) declared during the floor debate ahead of the vote, "The Fourth Amendment does not have an asterisk that says our intelligence agencies don't have to follow it."
Over the objection of privacy advocates and dashing the hopes of civil libertarians, the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted down an amendent to a controversial bill that would have made it harder for intelligence agencies and law enforcement from sweeping up and accessing massive amounts of data on American citizens without a warrant.
In a final vote of 233 to 183, the amendment submitted by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was defeated despite its proponents arguing that its protections were vital in order to maintain the government's mandate to uphold the 4th Amendment of the Consitution which prohibits search and seizure absent a judicial warrant or probable cause.
Digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which had lobbied in favor of the Amash amendment, voiced disappointment in the result:
According to EFF, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) "said it best" during the floor debate ahead of the vote when he declared, "The Fourth Amendment does not have an asterisk that says our intelligence agencies don't have to follow it."
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 |
Over the objection of privacy advocates and dashing the hopes of civil libertarians, the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted down an amendent to a controversial bill that would have made it harder for intelligence agencies and law enforcement from sweeping up and accessing massive amounts of data on American citizens without a warrant.
In a final vote of 233 to 183, the amendment submitted by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was defeated despite its proponents arguing that its protections were vital in order to maintain the government's mandate to uphold the 4th Amendment of the Consitution which prohibits search and seizure absent a judicial warrant or probable cause.
Digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which had lobbied in favor of the Amash amendment, voiced disappointment in the result:
According to EFF, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) "said it best" during the floor debate ahead of the vote when he declared, "The Fourth Amendment does not have an asterisk that says our intelligence agencies don't have to follow it."
Over the objection of privacy advocates and dashing the hopes of civil libertarians, the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted down an amendent to a controversial bill that would have made it harder for intelligence agencies and law enforcement from sweeping up and accessing massive amounts of data on American citizens without a warrant.
In a final vote of 233 to 183, the amendment submitted by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was defeated despite its proponents arguing that its protections were vital in order to maintain the government's mandate to uphold the 4th Amendment of the Consitution which prohibits search and seizure absent a judicial warrant or probable cause.
Digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which had lobbied in favor of the Amash amendment, voiced disappointment in the result:
According to EFF, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) "said it best" during the floor debate ahead of the vote when he declared, "The Fourth Amendment does not have an asterisk that says our intelligence agencies don't have to follow it."