Today, Congressman Ted Deutch, an outspoken advocate for Americans’ privacy rights and senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, voted to pass a legislative compromise to reign in abuses by the National Security Agency (NSA). The USA Freedom Act, which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet Collection, and Online Monitoring Act, passed by a vote of 303 to 121. Deutch, who joined his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to unanimously pass a stronger version of the legislation last week, urged his colleagues in the Senate to restore the earlier language's heightened privacy protections. 

“The appalling scope and reach of the NSA’s domestic surveillance programs led me to join many of my colleagues in Congress and millions of ordinary Americans in calling for reform,” said Congressman Deutch. “While I voted for a much stronger version of the USA Freedom Act in the House Judiciary Committee and was disappointed to see the legislation watered down by the time it reached the House floor, this bill is nonetheless an important step forward toward reigning in abuses by the NSA. The USA Freedom Act ensures the NSA can no longer rely on secret, overly broad interpretations of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect massive amounts of information about innocent Americans with no justification.” 

The USA Freedom Act would end bulk collection of Americans’ communications record under Section 215 of the Patriot Act and require the government to more aggressively filter and discard information about Americans accidentally collected through NSA surveillance programs. The bill also creates a special advocate charged with protecting Americans’ privacy interests during the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s (FISC) closed proceedings. The USA Freedom Act’s provisions also aim to strengthen transparency and accountability for the American people. Under this legislation, FISC would be required to publicly disclose any rulings that significantly change the interpretation of the laws passed by Congress. It also frees Internet and telecommunications companies to disclose how frequently the NSA requests the private data of customers to the public.