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Curated research library of TV news clips regarding the NSA, its oversight and privacy issues, 2009-2014

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Primary curation & research: Robin Chin, Internet Archive TV News Researcher; using Internet Archive TV News service.

Speakers

Bob Goodlatte
Representative (R-VA), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Goodlatte: As we speak, thousands -- no, millions of telephone metadata records are flowing into the N.S.A. on a daily basis. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, despite changes to the N.S.A. bulk telephone metadata program announced by President Obama last year, the bulk collection of the records has not ceased and will not cease unless and until congress acts to shut it down. Not even last week's decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will end this collection. The responsibility falls to us, and today we must answer the call and the will of the American people to do just that. When we set out to reform this program one year ago, I made the pledge to my colleagues in congress and to the American people that Americans' liberty and America's security can coexist. That these fundamental concepts are not mutually exclusive. They are embedded in the very fabric that makes this nation great
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Bob Goodlatte
Representative (R-VA), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Goodlatte: H.R. 2048, The U.S.A. Freedom Act protects these pillars of American democracy. It affirmatively ends the indiscriminant bulk collection of telephone metadata, but it does much further than this. It prohibits the bulk collection of all records under section 215 of the Patriot Act as well as under the FISA Pen Register trap and trace device statute and the national security letters statute. In place of the current bulk telephone metadata program the U.S.A. Freedom Act creates a targeted program that allows the intelligence community to collect noncontent call detail records held by the telephone companies that only with the prior approval of the FISA court and subject to the special selection term limitation.
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Bob Goodlatte
Representative (R-VA), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Goodlatte: The records provided to the government in response to queries will be limited to two hops, and the government's handling of any records it acquires will be governed by minimization procedures approved by the FISA court. The U.S.A. Freedom Act prevents government overreach by strengthening the definition of specific selection term. The mechanism used to prohibit bulk collection. To ensure the government can collect the information it needs to further a national security investigation while also prohibiting large-scale indiscriminant collection such as data from an entire state, city or zip code. The U.S.A. Freedom Act strengthens civil liberties and privacy protections by authorizing the FISA court to appoint an individual to serve as amicus curiae from a pool of experts to advise the court on matters of privacy and civil liberties, communications technology and other technical or legal matters.
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Bob Goodlatte
Representative (R-VA), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Goodlatte: It also codifies important procedures for recipients of national security letters to challenge nondisclosure requests. The bill increases transparency by requiring declassification of all significant FISA court opinions and provides procedures for certified questions of law to the FISA court of review and to the United States Supreme Court. Additionally, H.R. 2048 requires the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to provide the public with detailed information about how the intelligence community uses these national security authorities and provides even more robust transparency reporting by America's technology companies. The U.S.A. Freedom Act enhances America's national security by closing loopholes that make it difficult for the government to track foreign terrorists and spies as they enter or leave the country.
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John Conyers
U.S. Representative, D-Michigan, Judiciary Ranking Member
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Conyers: Last week, endorsing a view that I and many of my colleagues have held for years, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the text of Section 215 cannot bear the weight the government asks us to assign it, and it does not authorize the telephone metadata program. Now with Section 215 set to expire on June 1 we have the opportunity and the obligation to act clearly and decisively and end the program that has infringed on our rights for far too long.
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John Conyers
U.S. Representative, D-Michigan, Judiciary Ranking Member
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Conyers: A vote in favor of the U.S.A. Freedom Act is an explicit rejection of the government's unlawful interpretation of Section 215 and similar statutes. Put another way, a vote in favor of this bill is a vote to end dragnet surveillance in the United States. The ban on bulk collection contained in this legislation turns on the idea of a specific selection term and requires the government to limit the scope of production as narrowly as possible. This definition is much improved from the version of this bill that passed the House last Congress.
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Jim Sensenbrenner
U.S. Representative (R-Wisconsin), Chairman of Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Sensenbrenner: You know you drafted a strong bill when unites both national security hawks and civil libertarians. U.S.A. Freedom Act has done that. It also has the support of privacy groups, tech companies, and the intelligence community. This bill is an extremely well drafted compromise. The product of nearly two years of work, it effectively protects America's civil liberties and our national security. I am very proud of the U.S.A. Freedom Act , and am confident it is the most responsible path forward. I do not fault my colleagues who wish that this bill went further to protect our civil liberties. For years the government has violated the privacy of innocent Americans, and I share your anger.
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Jim Sensenbrenner
U.S. Representative (R-Wisconsin), Chairman of Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Sensenbrenner: For years the government has violated the privacy of innocent Americans, and I share your anger. But letting 215 and other surveillance authorities expire will not only threaten our national security, it would also mean less privacy protections. I emphasize it would also mean also privacy protections. U.S.A. Freedom Act also ends bulk collections across all domestic surveillance authorities not just section 215. It also expands transparency with increased reporting from both government and private companies. If the administration finds a new way to circumvent the law, congress and the public will know. The bill also requires the F.I.S.C. to declassify legal decisions bringing an end to secret laws.
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Jim Sensenbrenner
U.S. Representative (R-Wisconsin), Chairman of Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Sensenbrenner: Congress never intended section 215 to allow bulk collection. That program is illegal and based on a blatant misinterpretation of the law. That said, The Freedom Act gives the intelligence community new tools to combat terrorism in more targeted and effective ways. Specifically, the bill replaces the administration's bulk meta data collection with a targeted program to collect only the records the government needs without compromising the privacy of innocent Americans. It includes new authorities to allow the administration to expedite emergency requests under section 215, and fills holes in our surveillance law that require intelligence agencies to go dark on known terrorist or spies when they transit from outside to inside the U.S. or vice versa.
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Jim Sensenbrenner
U.S. Representative (R-Wisconsin), Chairman of Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security
CSPAN 08/13/2015
Sensenbrenner: Don't let the bluster and fear mongering of the bill's opponents convince you that we are safer with a clean re-authorization than we are with this bill. Attorney General Lynch and Director of National Intelligence Clapper recognize this. In a recent letter of support they wrote, “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,” unquote. Let's not kill these important reforms because we wish this bill did more. There is no perfect. Every bill we vote on could do more.
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