On Anniversary of Snowden Revelations, Senators Look at NSA Bill

Senate lawmakers expressed doubt about legislation to overhaul the National Security Agency’s bulk-data collection program as the US marked the first anniversary of surveillance revelations from whistleblower Edward Snowden.

In May, the House overwhelmingly passed the USA Freedom Act, legislation that would move bulk data collection from the NSA to phone companies. It’s not clear yet what the Senate will do about the legislation.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said that he “will fight for a stronger USA Freedom Act” which “bans bulk collection of data, provides greater accountability and improves transparency.” But members of another Senate committee with jurisdiction over the intelligence community -- the Senate Intelligence Committee -- took a dimmer view of the proposed NSA bulk data collection overhaul during a hearing on the legislation.

Senate Intelligence Committee members have often been more tolerant of the intelligence community’s surveillance efforts, so it’s not surprising members of both parties expressed reservations about the legislation. More notable will be what other Senators without ties to the intelligence community say about it. Several Republicans on the intelligence committee questioned whether changes are needed at all.

“We all need to step back and ask ourselves whether all of these changes are really necessary,” said Sen Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) during the hearing. Sen Dan Coats (R-IN) said “there has been significant misrepresentation of the current program” and urged his colleagues to make sure any legislation doesn’t “compromise our ability to detect and thwart threats against American citizens.”

Notably, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said the bipartisan House passage of the NSA bill sent “a very loud signal” to the Senate and said she believes her colleagues should look at the House legislation “with a view of its passage perhaps as amended through the Senate.”