[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 7204-7205]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            USA FREEDOM ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, 2 years ago the American people first became 
aware that the National Security Agency was collecting private 
information about their phone calls. This is called the Snowden 
revelation.
  Under the banner of national security, the National Security Agency 
was mining information about home phone calls and how long they lasted. 
They found out whom they were calling--and not only that. They found 
out whom the call was between. They also determined how long that call 
lasted.
  NSA essentially was conducting a dragnet, without first attempting to 
determine whether that information was relevant to a national security 
problem. NSA ran this program under the authorities granted to them by 
section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, which expires on June 1 of this year. 
The American people were outraged by these revelations and Congress 
rightly acted.
  Last year, the House passed a bill by a vote of 303 to 121 to end the 
NSA's so-called bulk metadata collection program and reform and extend 
the authority for this program.
  I brought a similar bill to the floor authored by Senators Leahy and 
Lee. There was a bipartisan group of Senators who joined them to call 
for its passage. But sadly, the majority leader--at that time the 
minority leader--stood in the way of bipartisan reform. Instead of 
passing meaningful reform, he led a Republican filibuster of this bill. 
That was one of a couple hundred that was led by my friend.
  This year, Senators Leahy and Lee worked again with the Chairman and 
ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee on the USA FREEDOM Act, 
which ends the National Security Agency's bulk collection program and 
extends and reforms the authorities under section 215 of the PATRIOT 
Act.
  There have been bipartisan and bicameral calls for the Senate to take 
up that legislation. Yet again, instead of committing to bringing up 
this bipartisan bill, last month the senior Senator from Kentucky 
introduced a bill

[[Page 7205]]

that would extend the authorities for the National Security Agency's 
bulk collection program for 5\1/2\ years. Then the Second Circuit, 
almost simultaneously--within 24 hours of that decision by the majority 
leader--found the bulk collection illegal.
  In reaction to the court's decision, the House last week passed the 
USA FREEDOM Act by a vote of 338 to 88. By a four-to-one margin, the 
House voted to end the National Security Agency's illegal bulk data 
collection program and reform its practices.
  But even in the face of that court's decision, the majority leader 
stood once again against bipartisan reform. Instead of heeding the 
Republican-controlled House's calls for reform, the majority leader 
introduced a bill that would extend the authorities for the National 
Security Agency's illegal program for 2 more months.
  Congressman Goodlatte, the chair of the Judiciary Committee in the 
House, said they will not accept a short-term extension of the bill. 
This morning, Leader McCarthy, the second ranking Republican in the 
House, said they will not accept any extension. That is exactly what 
the Speaker, Congressman Boehner, said.
  If we squander this opportunity to deliver sound reforms to this 
illegal program, we are handling our duties irresponsibly here in the 
Senate.
  To stand in the way of reforming these practices is to ignore the 
voice of the American people. Just yesterday, a new poll commissioned 
by the American Civil Liberties Union showed that 82 percent of 
Americans are concerned that the Federal Government is collecting and 
storing the personal information of Americans, and they do not like it.
  If we are unable to reform these practices, we are ignoring the 
ruling of the Second Circuit, which rejected the National Security 
Agency's bulk collection program, and we are not allowing the American 
people's voice to be heard.
  I think, most importantly, if the senior Senator from Kentucky does 
not allow this commonsense reform simply with a vote on the Senate 
floor about what happened in the House, they are ignoring the rare 
bipartisan support that we have.
  Just last week, 190 House Republicans voted to end the National 
Security Agency's illegal program. There is bipartisan consensus in 
favor of ending this program. Many of the Republican leader's own 
colleagues have called for it as well.
  Last week, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and James Clapper, Director 
of National Intelligence, wrote a letter to Senator Leahy, the ranking 
member of the Judiciary Committee. Both the Attorney General and the 
Director of National Intelligence voiced their support for the USA 
FREEDOM Act, saying:

       Overall, the significant reforms contained in this 
     legislation will provide the public greater confidence in how 
     our intelligence activities are carried out and in the 
     oversight of those activities, while ensuring vital national 
     security authorities remain in place.

  I agree with that statement. But sadly, the majority leader continues 
to stand in the way of bipartisan reform to end these illegal 
practices. As we face the June 1 expiration of these authorities, the 
majority leader still offers no viable alternative.
  We cannot allow this program to be extended. The majority leader 
should listen to the American people because we cannot extend an 
illegal act. That is what the majority leader is asking us to do.
  The majority leader should listen to the American people, consider 
the action of his Republican colleagues, and respect the expertise of 
the intelligence community.
  The Senate should act now on the USA FREEDOM Act before it leaves for 
the Memorial Day recess and restore the confidence of the American 
people.

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