House reformers claim victory over NSA

Lawmakers worried about protecting civil liberties said they had scored a win with the passage of the USA Freedom Act.

The bill had to overcome opposition from members on both sides of the aisle who worried it was too weak to curb the National Security Agency (NSA), but its passage nonetheless amounted to a step forward, they said.

“As result of the Freedom Act passing the House, the NSA might still be watching us, but now we can watch them,” said Rep James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the bill’s author.

“This is a win for civil liberties today,” added Rep John Conyers (D-MI) on the House Judiciary Committee.

The bill ends the NSA’s collection of Americans’ phone records and adds new transparency provisions that Rep Sensenbrenner, who also wrote the Patriot Act, said would prevent abuses from ever happening again. Under the bill, the NSA would have to tell Congress about any new policy changes within a day, and then would have to inform the public within 45 days.

“That way, if the NSA goes too far, Congress will be able to stop it and the American public will be able to know what is happening,” Rep Sensenbrenner said.