Sen Cotton unveils new bill to stall NSA reforms

Sen Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced new legislation to stall or preempt reforms to US intelligence agencies, days after the National Security Agency (NSA) ended a controversial program. Sen Cotton had unsuccessfully attempted to block that NSA reform from going into effect last weekend, but appears committed to stalling other changes following November’s deadly terrorist attack in Paris by adherents of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “No matter what President Obama may think, it’s clear ISIS is not contained and that these gaps must be addressed before they attack us again,” Sen Cotton said in a statement announcing his new bill, called the Liberty Through Strength Act II. “The Liberty Through Strength Act II ensures our intelligence community has the tools they need keep us safe.”

The original Liberty Through Strength Act, introduced a week before the Thanksgiving break, would have delayed the deadline for the NSA to end its bulk collection of millions of Americans’ phone records, among other changes. His new legislation would have the government hold on to the phone records already collected under that program for officials to search through for five years. It would also make permanent two other provisions that the NSA reform bill extended through 2019, which related to “lone wolf” suspects and those who move through multiple devices.