R Street praises Senate for passing USA FREEDOM Act
WASHINGTON (June 2, 2015) – The R Street Institute praised the U.S. Senate today for passing the USA FREEDOM Act by a strong vote of 67-32 and for rejecting amendments that would have weakened the bill and restricted the scope of its reforms. The bill had previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan majority.
“We believe the Senate has honored the will of the American people in taking this important first step in curtailing indiscriminate surveillance,” said Mike Godwin, R Street’s director of innovation policy and general counsel. “This bill marks an end to the National Security Agency’s carte blanche for bulk surveillance of American citizens.”
“USA FREEDOM also lays critical groundwork for more transparency and accountability for the secret FISA courts,” Godwin said. FISA—the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978—created a special branch of the court system (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, known as FISC) that approves and monitors surveillance. The USA FREEDOM Act marks the first major reform of FISA since the legislation was passed in 1978.
Godwin also cautioned that while the legislation presents a good first step, more work will need to be done on the issue.
“The is only the beginning of the efforts we must undertake to reform government surveillance powers in the digital age,” Godwin said. “The same digital technologies that have empowered more and more citizens in our democracy have also empowered our government to snoop more deeply and pervasively than it ever has before.”
“That’s why R Street and our coalition partners are committed to continue this reform effort over the long term. We can’t let this short-term victory take our eyes off the biggest prize, which is systematic restraint and accountability for our government’s surveillance activities.,” he said.
Godwin said nearer-term surveillance-related efforts will continue this year and next year as Congress considers reform of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and Section 702 of the PATRIOT Act.
“We will continue to argue for limited, effective, accountable government surveillance practices in these debates over ECPA, Section 702, and other surveillance authorities,” Godwin concluded.
