Patriot Act author pushes legislation to limit NSA surveillance

Rep Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the original author of the USA Patriot Act in 2001, plans to introduce legislation to curb the National Security Agency's surveillance powers. Ben Miller, a spokesman for Rep Sensenbrenner, said there will be about 60 House co-sponsors for the bill, titled the USA Freedom Act.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) plans to introduce companion legislation in the upper chamber simultaneously, Miller said. The legislation would tighten Section 215 of the Patriot Act to end the NSA's bulk collection of records on all U.S. phone calls. The fact that the NSA is collecting records such as phone numbers, call times and call durations on all U.S. phone calls was revealed earlier this year by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.