NSA surveillance reform bill dies in Senate

(RT) The US Senate failed to get the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster and move forward with the USA Freedom Act, which would have placed significant restrictions on the way the National Security Agency’s conducts surveillance domestically.

Supporters of the bill tallied 58 “yes” votes against 42 “no” votes, but they fell two shy of bringing the USA Freedom Act up for a clear majority vote. Opposition generally came from Republicans, but not all conservatives voted against proceeding with the bill. Sen. Ted Cruz, (R-Texas) was a co-sponsor of the measure, and was one of four Republicans to vote in favor of advancing it.

Senior Republicans said stopping the surveillance would benefit enemies of the United State, including Islamic State militants, according to Reuters.

The bill, now effectively dead for this year, would have stopped the NSA from collecting the phone records of millions of Americans who are not suspected of any crime. The reforms are unlikely to be reviewed when the new Congress convenes in January, but the controversial surveillance program will most likely be debated next year as Congress decides whether to renew the Patriot Act, which serves as the foundation for the NSA’s activity.

If passed into law, the bill would have placed metadata records – information such as the time a call was made and the duration of the call, but not the actual content of the call itself – in the possession of telephone companies instead of the NSA. If intelligence agencies wanted access to the data, they would have to seek approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA).

The bill would also allow public advocates to participate in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA) proceedings. Additionally, the government would be required to disclose FISA opinions and statistics about the extent of domestic spying activities, though these could be withheld if they posed a risk to national security.

Although the House of Representatives passed the original draft of the Freedom Act in May, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-.Vt.) further strengthened the bill at the request of civil liberties advocates. Key reformers like Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have not yet thrown their support behind the bill, hoping for stronger measures against the “backdoor” collection of Americans’ data – something done indirectly when the primary target is a foreigner.

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Source: RT News