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Vote on limiting NSA phone surveillance expected Wednesday
dailycaller ^ | Tuesday, July 23, 2013 | Josh Peterson

Posted on 07/24/2013 11:17:57 AM PDT by upchuck

U.S. lawmakers may very well be one step closer to bringing across-the-board U.S. government phone surveillance to an end.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday on an amendment to next year’s defense appropriations bill that would defund the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of people’s phone metadata not under investigation for international terrorism or foreign intelligence.

According to the revised amendment’s summary available on the House Rules Committee website, the amendment “bars authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act.”

It further “bars the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215,” continues the summary.

The broad scope of the NSA’s surveillance, enabled by Section 215, was first revealed in early June by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Since the revelations were first made public, the secretive agency has been the subject of global controversy.

The amendment was first proposed by Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash, a fierce civil libertarian and opponent of U.S. agencies engaged in unconstitutional warrantless surveillance.

Republican Reps. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Democratic Reps. John Conyers of Michigan and Jared Polis of Colorado, are also co-sponsors of the Amash amendment.

The House Rules Committee departed from normal procedure to solicit amendments in written form as part of an attempt to limit what would be attached to the bill.

Senior officials from the U.S. intelligence committee have pushed back hard against allegations that the collection program violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Congressional leaders, concerned over the effect Amash’s amendment could have on the effectiveness of the surveillance programs, delayed a vote on the defense bill until this week.

NSA director, General Keith Alexander, headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon for a “members-only briefing set up by the House Intelligence Committee” to lobby against Amash’s amendment, reports The Hill.

U.S. activists, organized by the digital advocacy group Demand Progress, rallied online Tuesday to petition their representatives to support Amash’s amendment.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: benghazi; congress; fastandfurious; impeachnow; irs; nsa; nsafunding; nsaleaks; nsasurveillance
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Go Mulvaney!

Wish I had seen/posted this yesterday.

1 posted on 07/24/2013 11:17:57 AM PDT by upchuck
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To: upchuck

Back in the days of telegrams, NSA was told to stop collecting telegram flimsies for overseas telegrams (Western UInion had agreed to make them available, they were picked up daily then returned).

They said they did but continued the practice. So if Congress directs them to stop doing something, there is no guarantee it will happen.

“The Puzzle Palace” has lots of good NSA tales.


2 posted on 07/24/2013 11:24:01 AM PDT by DBrow
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To: upchuck
Don't worry, McTreason is "Pro NSA Spying."


3 posted on 07/24/2013 11:31:21 AM PDT by LyinLibs (If victims of islam were more "islamophobic," maybe they'd still be alive.)
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To: upchuck

Shut it down!


4 posted on 07/24/2013 11:34:08 AM PDT by TigersEye ("No man left behind" is more than an Army Ranger credo it's the character of America.)
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To: DBrow
Back in the days of telegrams, NSA was told to stop collecting telegram flimsies for overseas telegrams

There's a distinct difference here. NSA was told (asked) to quit collecting the flimsies. As I understand the Amash amendment, NSA wouldn't have the cash needed to collect the flimsies.

5 posted on 07/24/2013 12:11:09 PM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
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To: upchuck

It’ll be fun watching King Hussein veto this and trying to explain why, assuming the Senate even bothers to take it up.


6 posted on 07/24/2013 12:22:38 PM PDT by Colonel_Flagg (Army dad. And damned proud.)
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So Congress has control after all. Imagine that.

It’s good that a few in Congress recognize the obvious legislative responsibility, but it’s a damn shame no one else on the planet does.


7 posted on 07/24/2013 12:41:03 PM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: upchuck

It is good that the House is doing this. Of course, Harry Reid will never let it come to a vote in the Senate and the pResident will veto it if it gets to him, but the house must do it.


8 posted on 07/24/2013 12:54:00 PM PDT by Redleg Duke ("Madison, Wisconsin is 30 square miles surrounded by reality.", L. S. Dryfus)
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To: Redleg Duke

The House has to at least get the process going. Let Reid take responsibility for stalling it.


9 posted on 07/24/2013 12:55:58 PM PDT by austinaero
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To: Carlos Danger, Barry of the Bungle, Wide Load

- Hang 'em high!


10 posted on 07/24/2013 12:56:58 PM PDT by devolve (----- ----- ----- it not unlegal iffen I do*s it ----- ----- -----)
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To: upchuck

One of the few issues in which liberals and conservatives are aligned, but I bet it will fail anyway. The NSA will simply dig up dirt and blackmail a majority into killing it.


11 posted on 07/24/2013 1:33:27 PM PDT by RB156
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To: Redleg Duke
Harry Reid will never let it come to a vote in the Senate and the pResident will veto it if it gets to him

Note that this is not a bill. It is not standalone legislation. It is an amendment to next year’s defense appropriations.

Makes it much harder for Dingy to ignore it and nobama to veto it.

12 posted on 07/24/2013 1:48:16 PM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
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To: upchuck

LOL! When all is said and done, CONgress will do nothing to limit NSA programs. They’re complicit.

This is just kabuki theater for the masses signifying nothing.


13 posted on 07/24/2013 2:50:28 PM PDT by RKBA Democrat (GOTS: Food, water, guns, ammo, useful skills, cash, and precious metals.)
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To: RB156

The gop wing of the uniparty wants the NSA data to provide for an expanded police state. The ‘rat wing of the uniparty wants the NSA data for blackmail. So what part of CONgress is actually going to pass this

This bill will die an unremarked death. Kabuki theater amounting to nothing.


14 posted on 07/24/2013 2:54:06 PM PDT by RKBA Democrat (GOTS: Food, water, guns, ammo, useful skills, cash, and precious metals.)
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To: upchuck

Met Mulvaney in Indian Land right before he was elected. Glad he kicked Spratt’s ass out of office.


15 posted on 07/24/2013 3:46:20 PM PDT by struggle
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To: upchuck
Makes it much harder for Dingy to ignore it and nobama to veto it.

Exactly! The Senate can reject a spending bill, but only for so long. Money is their oxygen.

16 posted on 07/24/2013 3:48:29 PM PDT by Sirius Lee (All that is required for evil to advance is for government to do "something")
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To: Sirius Lee
The Senate can reject a spending bill, but only for so long.

This isn't just a spending bill. It's the defense authorization for the next fiscal year. Important stuff. The perfect bill to attach this amendment to.

17 posted on 07/24/2013 3:58:05 PM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
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To: upchuck
Take the money from NSA and tell DoD it has to be spent to stop the furloughs of nurses, teachers, cops, and engineers. That will drive Barry Mugabe and Chuckie Hagel bat guano.
18 posted on 07/24/2013 4:08:17 PM PDT by SkyPilot
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To: upchuck

I understand that this has just been defeated by a 218-207 vote.

I know in advance I am going to be angry at my congresscritter...

Will be interested to see who else voted against it.


19 posted on 07/24/2013 4:09:10 PM PDT by AFPhys ((Praying for our troops, our citizens, that the Bible and Freedom become basis of the US law again))
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To: AFPhys

Evil wins again.


20 posted on 07/24/2013 4:13:40 PM PDT by SkyPilot
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