WASHINGTON (July 30, 2014) – The R Street Institute today joined a coalition of groups expressing support for the USA FREEDOM Act, which was reintroduced in the Senate this week by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

In a letter to Congress, coalition members said the Leahy bill is a substantial improvement over a version passed by the U.S. House and addresses many of the earlier bill’s shortcomings. The Senate bill includes more effective prohibitions on bulk record collection, strengthened transparency reporting provisions and reforms to make the FISA Court process more accountable.

“While the bill does not include all of the reforms we’d like to see to the government’s surveillance powers, it is a vast improvement over the House bill and a good first step toward reining in the government’s out-of-control spying apparatus,” said R Street Senior Policy Analyst Zach Graves. “Chairman Leahy and his staff should be commended for their efforts.”

Other members of the coalition include such groups as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Open Technology Institute, Generation Opportunity, the American Civil Liberties Union and Access.

Click here to read the letter and its support of key provisions of the bill.

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