The NSA will no longer be authorized to collect bulk phone records under bipartisan national security legislation approved this morning by Congress.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONGRESSMAN PITTENGER: NATIONAL SECURITY AND PERSONAL PRIVACY BOTH PROTECTED IN NSA REFORMS
The NSA will no longer be authorized to collect bulk phone records under bipartisan national security legislation approved this morning by Congress.
Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09), Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism, says the new plan strikes a careful balance between protecting privacy rights and national security.
“The number of terrorism related deaths worldwide doubled from 2012 to 2013, jumping from 10,000 to 20,000 in just one year. Radical Islamist terrorists are unrelenting in their efforts to destroy us and our way of life. Now is not the time to stand down.
“However, we cannot trample the very freedoms we seek to defend.
“For months, I have urged a thoughtful approach to NSA reform, and I am pleased with today’s outcome. Congress is taking action to end the broad, sweeping collection of everyone’s phone records, while providing NSA with smart, narrowly-focused tools to continue tracking international terrorists.”
Under the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361), the bulk collection of phone records by the government is prohibited. The NSA will still be able to request records from the telephone company as part of counter-terror investigations, but must receive case-by-case approval from the court, and any records not containing foreign intelligence information must be destroyed. The legislation also provides new comprehensive review procedures and extensive public disclosure of the NSA phone records program.
###
