Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

Senate Appropriations Committee Advances Agriculture Bill with $700 Million for USDA's ReConnect Program

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved several fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills with strong bipartisan support. The Fiscal Year 2022 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill was reported out of Committee on a vote of 25 to 5. If the bill becomes law, the USDA's ReConnect broadband program would receive $700 million.  The program will expand access to high-speed broadband to remote unserved and underserved rural areas.  

Sen Leahy Introduces Historic Bill To Ban NSA’s Dragnet Collection Of Americans’ Electronic Communications

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced legislation that would restore Americans’ privacy rights by ending the government’s dragnet collection of phone records and requiring greater oversight, transparency, and accountability with respect to domestic surveillance authorities.

The updated version of the USA FREEDOM Act builds on legislation passed in the House in May, as well as the original legislation Sen Leahy introduced with Rep Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) in October 2013. The legislation bans bulk collection under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and other surveillance authorities, requires the government to narrow the scope of a search to a clearly defined “specific selection term,” adds needed transparency and reporting requirements, and provides key reforms to the FISA Court.