Coalition urges Congress to revive Massie-Lofgren surveillance amendment
The Honorable John Boehner Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi House Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
December 4, 2014
Dear Speaker Boehner and Democratic Leader Pelosi:
Last night, the undersigned groups learned of a decision by the House leadership to remove a critical surveillance reform amendment from the House-passed Fiscal Year 2015 Defense Department appropriations. The amendment would curtail some of the most egregious surveillance abuses by the National Security Agency (NSA).
That amendment, sponsored by Rep. Tom Massie and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, passed overwhelmingly with 293 votes on June 19. It remains the only NSA reform measure to pass either chamber since the revelations of NSA’s surveillance abuses became public in June 2013. Failing to include this amendment in the forthcoming FY15 omnibus will send a clear message to Americans that Congress does not care if the NSA searches their stored communications or if the government pressures American technology companies to build vulnerabilities into their products that assist in NSA surveillance.
These actions come at a tremendous cost to American privacy and American jobs. We urge you to put the rights and the economic security of Americans first and retain this amendment in any final omnibus spending bill sent to the Senate.
For questions, contact Becky Bond at [email protected] or Evan Greer at [email protected].
Sincerely,
CREDO Mobile
Fight for the Future
Restore the Fourth
MoveOn
Sunlight Foundation
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Democracy for America
Campaign for Liberty
R Street Institute
Center for Constitutional Rights
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Constitutional Alliance
ThoughtWorks
Courage Campaign
Win Without War
Defending Dissent Foundation
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington (CREW)
Code Pink
Appeal for Justice
TechFreedom
Government Accountability Project
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Libertarian Party
Demand Progress
Daily Kos
PEN American Center
Liberty Coalition
The Constitution Project
Free Press Action Fund
OpenMedia