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15 Feb ’12
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Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have introduced the Surveillance State Repeal Act that would end the NSA’s unconstitutional domestic spying. I can say without hesitation:this bill is the real deal.
“The Patriot Act contains many provisions that violate the Fourth Amendment and have led to a dramatic expansion of our domestic surveillance state,” said Rep. Massie. "Our Founding Fathers fought and died to stop the kind of warrantless spying and searches that the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act authorize. It is long past time to repeal the Patriot Act and reassert the constitutional rights of all Americans. I am proud to co-sponsor Congressman Pocan’s bill and look forward to working with him on this issue.”
Congress has introduced a handful of NSA reform bills over the past few years. Due to public disapproval of NSA spying, there is significant political pressure to “do something” about it. Most of these reform bills, however, would do practically nothing to rein in warrantless spying. Civil liberties experts say that most of these bills contain loopholes that would allow the invasive practices to continue.
That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a bill like the Surveillance State Repeal Act. It’s bold and effective. Specifically, here is what the bill would do:
- Repeals the Patriot Act (which contains the provision that allows for the bulk collection of metadata from U.S. citizens).
- Repeals the FISA Amendments Act (which contains provisions allowing for the government to monitor emails).
- It would extend judges’ terms on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and technical and legal experts to advise on technical issues raised during proceedings.
- Mandate that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) regularly monitor such domestic surveillance programs for compliance with the law and issue an annual report.
- Ban the federal government from mandating that the manufacturer of an electronic device must install spy software.
- Gives people a proper channel to report illegal activity in their department.
- Says that no information related to a U.S. person may be acquired without a valid warrant based on probable cause—including under Executive Order 12333.
- Retains tools that are useful to law enforcement such as not requiring a new warrant if the suspect switches devices in an attempt to break surveillance.
- Protects intelligence collection practices involving foreign targets for the purpose of investigating weapons of mass destruction.
The Surveillance State Repeal Act is a no-nonsense bill that would restore our civil liberties while keeping us safe. Take action today!
3 Nov ’12
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is this legit? Does it have a chance?
15 Feb ’12
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seems to be legit, doubt it will go anywhere
19 Feb ’12
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No way it goes ANYWHERE. It's too easy to discredit it, and even if it does start to gain traction, there will be some mysterious terror attack that was averted which will give more validity to the PA. Also, even if it is repealed, there will still be a lot of it's remnants in place. Things like getting a driver's license or bank account will still be 10x more difficult than they were 15 years ago
15 Feb ’12
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most recent news I can find
http://www.usatoday....../70734646/
weird thing is I can't find an actually copy of the bill, just news stories about it
19 Feb ’12
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It's top secret because the patriot act is top secret.
15 Feb ’12
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did find this
On 1 June Section 215 of the Patriot Act - which has been used to vacuum up American’s telephone records - will expire unless Congress reauthorize it
In less than 60 days, Congress - whether they like it or not - will be forced to decide if the NSA’s most notorious mass surveillance program lives or dies. And today, over 30 civil liberties organizations launched a nationwide call-in campaign urging them to kill it.
Despite doing almost everything in their power to avoid voting for substantive NSA reform, Congress now has no choice: On 1 June, one of the most controversial parts of the Patriot Act - known as Section 215 - will expire unless both houses of Congress affirmatively vote for it to be reauthorized.
Section 215 of the Patriot Act was the subject of the very first Snowden story, when the Guardian reported that the US government had reinterpreted the law in complete secrecy, allowing the NSA to vacuum up every single American’s telephone records - who they called, who called them, when, and for how long - regardless of whether they had been accused of a crime or not. (The NSA’s warped interpretation of Section 215 was also the subject of John Oliver’s entire show on Sunday night. It is a must-watch.)
The massive phone dragnet is not the only thing Section 215 is used for though. As independent journalist Marcy Wheeler has meticulously documented, Section 215 is likely being used for all sorts of surveillance that the public has no idea about. There are an estimated 180 orders from the secret Fisa court that involve Section 215, but we know only five of them are directed at telecom companies for the NSA phone program. To give you a sense of the scale: the one Fisa order published by the Guardian from the Snowden trove compelled Verizon to hand over every phone record that it had on all its millions of customers. Every single one.
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