Committee on the Judiciary United States

Strengthening Privacy Rights and National Security Committee on the Judiciary United States

In the years since September 11th, Congress has repeatedly expanded the scope of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and has given the Government sweeping new powers to collect information on law-abiding Americans. Americans have learned that one of these authorities-Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act-has for years been secretly interpreted to authorize the collection of Americans' phone records on an unprecedented scale. Information has also been leaked about Section 702 of FISA, which authorizes the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect the communications of foreigners overseas. In the wake of these leaks, President Obama said that this is an opportunity to have an open and thoughtful debate about these issues. Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, has acknowledged that he provided false testimony about the NSA surveillance programs during a Senate hearing. It is far too difficult to get a straight answer about the effectiveness of the Section 215 phone records program. Whether this program is a critical national security tool is a key question for Congress as it considers possible changes to the law. The bulk collection program has massive privacy implications. The phone records of every American resides in an NSA database. It has been reported that the bulk collection of Internet metadata was shut down because it failed to produce meaningful intelligence. We need to take an equally close look at the phone records program. If this program is not effective, it has to end.