[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 78 (Thursday, May 22, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            USA FREEDOM ACT

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. SUSAN K. DelBENE

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 22, 2014

  Ms. DelBENE. Mr. Speaker, as an original cosponsor of the USA Freedom 
Act, I am disappointed that I cannot support this bill as it is 
considered on the floor today.
  Like many Americans, I was shocked to learn about the National 
Security Agency's domestic spying program that was sweeping up the 
private communications records of millions of innocent Americans. It 
goes against American values and our Constitution. That's why two weeks 
ago I was pleased to join my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee in 
unanimously supporting the USA Freedom Act as it passed out of the 
committee.
  I believed that the compromise, while far from perfect, would help 
rebuild the public trust in government by ending bulk collection, 
assuring that government surveillance authorities are rule-bound, 
narrowly tailored, transparent and subject to oversight, all while 
ensuring that the nation's intelligence community can protect national 
security.
  Unfortunately, since then, negotiations with the Administration have 
resulted in this bill moving in the wrong direction. While I believe 
that the intent of this bill is to end bulk collection and I am glad 
that there is widespread agreement that Congress must act to end bulk 
collection, I am not convinced the bill effectively achieves this. The 
weakened definition of ``specific selection term'' must be addressed as 
this bill moves forward in order to provide absolute certainty that the 
legislative language achieves this intent, and that the bill's ban on 
bulk collection is air-tight. Today's bill simply fall short of what is 
needed to provide a clear guarantee to the public that the massive data 
collection by the NSA will be put to a full stop.
  I appreciate the efforts of the Committees and Leadership to support 
greater transparency in the bill. The transparency reporting amendment 
that I offered in the Judiciary Committee that is included in the bill 
will allow companies to disclose information regarding the number and 
nature of government demands for user information. However, the new 
manager's amendment that we are considering on the House floor today 
has weakened this provision by, for example, adding a two-year delay 
that prohibits companies from issuing transparency reports for new 
products or services. I offered several amendments to the Rules 
Committee to address my concerns with the weakened language in the 
manager's amendment, but none of these amendments were given an 
opportunity for debate or a vote on the House floor.
  I thank the Committees and the Leadership for their work to move this 
important conversation forward, but I simply cannot support the bill in 
its current form.

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