Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., now co-sponsors the USA...
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., now co-sponsors the USA Freedom Act, written by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and House Judiciary Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and introduced in late October. HR-3361 and S-1599 has more…
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than 100 co-sponsors in the House and Senate and would end the government’s bulk collection of phone metadata under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Wyden in September introduced a similar bill with Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Udall and Blumenthal previously came out as co-sponsors of the USA Freedom Act, but Wyden was silent. “As written this bill will also make these vital reforms, and now that the Senate Intelligence Committee has decided to preserve surveillance business-as-usual, Chairman Leahy’s legislation is now our best hope for reform in this Congress,” said Wyden in a written statement Tuesday. “I urge everyone who has supported Senators Udall, Paul, Blumenthal and myself in our efforts to lend their support to Chairman Leahy as he works to advance the USA FREEDOM Act.” Wyden said Leahy is also now a co-sponsor of Wyden’s Intelligence Oversight and Surveillance Reform Act, which he reiterated “sets the bar for real, meaningful reforms to surveillance law.” Wyden also wants to keep working with Paul to “ensure that law-abiding Americans who have been harmed by intrusive government surveillance programs have an opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of these programs in court,” he said. Changes to surveillance law will require bipartisan support and should take advantage of every stage of “procedural opportunity” to move forward, Wyden told reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. He said this focus is taking place in Congress now. Wyden described “the tech community really rallying” behind the push for surveillance law updates, an outspokenness that Wyden judged unusual compared to times past. Wyden, a Senate Intelligence Committee member, fought unsuccessfully to integrate changes into a legislative proposal that cleared Senate Intelligence last week (CD Nov 4 p10). Observers have said the proposals of Wyden and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., are at odds with that Senate Intelligence bill, called the FISA Improvements Act, and “far from anything that could be considered meaningful reform,” Wyden said after its committee clearance.