E-mail privacy legislation moving forward in House

Source: 
Coverage Type: 

The House Judiciary Committee will vote in March on e-mail privacy legislation that has failed to move despite widespread support in recent years.

Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said the legislation is necessary to update a 1986 law to explicitly require the government to obtain a warrant when it is seeking to access e-mails or other electronic communications. “It’s clear that the law needs to be modernized and updated to ensure it keeps pace with ever-changing technologies so that we protect Americans’ constitutional rights and provide law enforcement with the tools they need for criminal investigations in the digital age,” he said. Advocates for reform have become impatient in Congress. The announced vote came after Rep Suzan DelBene (D-WA) had earlier in the day wanted to add the privacy bill as an amendment to a separate vote in the committee. However, the vote was delayed. "With 308 of my colleagues – a majority of both Republicans and Democrats – and a majority of the Judiciary Committee in support of the bill, the markup should be brief and the bill should swiftly move to the House floor for passage,” said Rep Kevin Yoder (R-KS), one of the primary sponsors of the bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved its version of reform in 2015, but it has not received a vote on the floor.


E-mail privacy legislation moving forward in House