Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced Tuesday his latest...
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced Tuesday his latest version of the USA Freedom Act (http://1.usa.gov/1powtMR), the surveillance overhaul bill he originally introduced last fall. The House approved a watered-down version earlier this year, and Leahy’s new version attempts to add…
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back teeth, he said. The bill “ensures that the ban on bulk collection is effective,” said Leahy, who heads the Judiciary Committee, in a statement of introduction. “It ensures that the government cannot rely on Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] pen register and trap and trace device statute, or the national security letter statutes to engage in the indiscriminate collection of Americans’ private records.” The bill has 13 co-sponsors from both parties and backing from top privacy advocates and technology companies, many of which had opposed the final House version. Privacy advocates say that more overhaul must follow this bill, a sentiment Leahy also conveyed in introducing the compromise legislation. “Given the need to act quickly, I am willing to forego regular order and take this bill directly to the Senate Floor,” Leahy said. Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Dean Heller, R-Nev., applauded Leahy for including transparency provisions they had authored. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., want the bill to go further and address “backdoor” and warrantless searches, they said.