House Judiciary Committee Votes to Put a Leash on NSA’s Snooping Power
The House Judiciary Committee showed strong support for the new measure, voting for the USA Freedom Act to pass with a 25-to-2 vote. The House is expected to follow suit and vote to pass the bill, and Rep. Adam Schiff of California told the Times that a bipartisan House vote “will send a strong message to the Senate that in the House, both sides of the aisle want reforms.” Congress will then get a chance to rework the Patriot Act on June 1, when three sections of the bill will be up for reauthorization.
If the Freedom Act gets approved, the NSA will be prohibited from continuing the bulk collection of metadata, and will only be able to access data stored by phone companies if they obtain the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court first. The bill will also mandate the creation of a panel of experts who will help provide the Court with advice regarding civil liberties and technology issues.
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