Civil Liberties and Balanced Budgets

USA Freedom Act Protects Civil Liberties and Increases Transparency

The House Judiciary Committee passed legislation to end bulk data collection under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and bring transparency to our intelligence gathering programs. While no piece of legislation is perfect, the USA Freedom Act is critical to ending the unacceptable status quo and better protects Americans’ civil liberties.

As a former federal prosecutor, I understand the importance of ensuring federal investigators have the tools they need to prevent terrorist attacks and bring to justice those who want to do our nation harm. But in light of the disclosure that the National Security Agency (NSA) repeatedly violated the PATRIOT Act’s provisions and protections, these programs no longer appropriately balance individual privacy and public safety. As a result, the American public, as well as many members of Congress, has lost trust in the NSA, and it has become clear we need stronger protections to prevent the Agency from continued overreach and secrecy.

The USA Freedom Act makes important reforms through increased transparency, accountability and oversight:

• Ends bulk data collection under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, the FISA pen register authority, and national security letter statutes.
• Allows challenges of national security letter gag orders.
• Improves transparency by requiring all significant FISA court interpretations to be made public.
• Provides robust government reporting and company reporting, so tech companies will be able to describe how they respond to national security orders.

House Passes Balanced Budget

This week the House passed the first joint balanced-budget plan since 2001. This budget supports a growing economy and helps hard-working families. Here are five things to know about the budget:

• Balances in nine years without raising taxes
• Provides for a strong national defense
• Makes the tax code simpler and fairer
• Repeals Obamacare
• Helps to create 1.2 million additional jobs and $400 billion in additional economic growth over the next 10 years, according to non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

More information on the Budget here.