It will take 60 Senate votes to end the "bulk collection" program.
When confronted with a giant cache of secret documents from Edward Snowden, the first story Glenn Greenwald wrote was about the National Security Agency's "bulk collection" program harvesting data from every US phone call. Seventeen months after that program was made public, it may finally get an up-or-down vote in the US Senate.
Yesterday evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took action to move the USA Freedom Act toward a debate and a vote. That's a big turnaround from September, when Senate sources said passing the act "wasn't a top priority." With Reid's support, a vote could come as early as next week.
The bill would enact a few big reforms of how surveillance gets done in the US. First, the NSA's bulk collection program would be banned. Phone data would remain in the hands of the phone companies, and intelligence agencies would only be able to get data related to a "specific selection term" such as a phone number or name. It also would create a group of public advocates to argue in favor of privacy rights at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, so proceedings there would be less one-sided.Reid has filed for a "cloture" vote to end debate, which will require 60 votes. That will be the biggest hurdle, since the bill can then be passed out of the Senate with a simple majority. It's not a foregone conclusion that it will pass; some hawkish Senators are on record as being strong supporters of bulk surveillance, including Select Intelligence Committee head Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA).
The USA Freedom Act is supported by reform groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), even though the groups say it's not a perfect bill.
“The American people are wondering whether Congress can get anything done,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), in support of Reid's motion. "The answer is yes. Congress can and should take up and pass the bipartisan USA Freedom Act, without delay."
"Passage of the USA FREEDOM Act would be an important step forward for restoring Americans’ privacy and rebuilding trust in our government," said CDT President Nuala O’Connor in a statement. "The specter of surveillance has hung over this Congress for the last year and a half."
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