[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8059-8060]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            USA FREEDOM ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the bill we just passed is a historic 
moment. It is the first major overhaul of government surveillance laws 
in decades that adds significant privacy protections for the American 
people. It has been a long and difficult road, but I am proud of what 
the Congress has achieved today. This is how democracy is supposed to 
work. Congress is ending the bulk collection of Americans' private 
phone records once and for all.
  To my partners in the Senate on both sides of the aisle, I thank you. 
Senator Lee, whose name is on our bill here in the Senate, believes 
strongly in our constitutional system of government. He has worked 
tirelessly to advance this bill from the day we first introduced the 
USA FREEDOM Act. Senator Franken has devoted himself to the 
transparency measures in the bill. Senator Blumenthal shaped the FISA 
Court amicus provisions. This was hard fought, and they never wavered.
  I also want to thank Senators Heller, Cruz, Murkowski, Daines, 
Durbin, and Schumer, the other original cosponsors of this bill. They 
have each worked to help advance this legislation and build the 
coalition we needed to finally get to our strong bipartisan vote in the 
Senate for passage. I must also mention Senator Feinstein, who provided 
invaluable support to get this bill across the finish line. Of course, 
I also need to thank Minority Leader Reid, who has never wavered in his 
strong support and responsible leadership.
  On the House side, Chairman Goodlatte and Congressmen Sensenbrenner, 
Conyers, and Nadler have

[[Page 8060]]

been the kind of bipartisan partners on this bill that every legislator 
wants in their corner.
  I also need to thank Senators Wyden and Heinrich and former Senator 
Mark Udall, who used their positions on the Senate Intelligence 
Committee to ask the hard questions behind closed doors and who have 
fought to end this program for so long.
  While we have much work to do, we have accomplished something 
momentous today. We are a better nation for it.
  I also want to thank the many staffers who have worked long hours on 
this legislation for nearly two years now. On my own Judiciary 
Committee staff, I thank Chan Park, Lara Flint, Jessica Brady, Hasan 
Ali, Patrick Sheahan, Logan Gregoire, Jonathan Hoadley, Joel Park and 
Kristine Lucius. My personal office staff, including J.P. Dowd, Erica 
Chabot, David Carle, John Tracy and Diane Derby, also worked hard on 
this effort, and I am grateful for that. I also want to thank 
Democratic and Republican Senate staffers who have toiled countless 
hours on this effort, including Matt Owen, Mike Lemon, Wendy Baig, 
James Wallner, Josh Finestone, Scarlet Doyle, Ayesha Khanna, Alvaro 
Bedoya, Helen Gilbert, Samantha Chaifetz, Sam Simon, John Dickas, Chad 
Tanner, and Jennifer Barrett.
  We not only worked across the aisle on this legislation, but we also 
worked across the Capitol. The bipartisan group of House staff who 
helped to craft this compromise bill and generated such an overwhelming 
vote on this legislation deserve enormous credit for their work: 
Caroline Lynch (who along with Lara Flint deserves a perfect attendance 
award for extensive negotiating sessions), Bart Forsyth, Aaron Hiller 
(whose wife deserves our thanks as she had a baby just weeks before the 
House considered the bill), Jason Herring, Shelley Husband, Branden 
Ritchie, and Perry Apelbaum.
  I thank those at the White House who devoted countless hours 
including Josh Pollack, Jeff Ratner, Ryan Gillis, Michael Bosworth, and 
Chris Fonzone. I also appreciate the work of so many other executive 
branch officials at the Justice Department, Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and 
National Security Agency who work so hard to keep our country safe and 
answered our questions at all hours of the day and night.
  I also need to thank the many public interest groups, on all ends of 
the political spectrum, who stuck with us despite many challenges. 
There are too many to name, but without their energy and expertise, 
this reform effort would never have come to fruition. Likewise, the 
technology industry provided invaluable input and support for this 
legislation.
  And finally, I would like to thank the dedicated staff in the Office 
of Senate Legislative Counsel, whose tremendous work in assisting us 
with legislative drafting often goes unnoticed and unrecognized. In 
particular, I want to thank John Henderson, Kim Albrecht-Taylor, and 
James Ollen-Smith for their assistance and technical expertise.
  Seeing nobody else seeking recognition, I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Ayotte). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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