Proposed Senate Bill on NSA Surveillance

McConnell bill would extend NSA surveillance

Washington Post

By Ellen Nakashima

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill Tuesday night to extend through 2020 a controversial surveillance authority under the Patriot Act.

The move comes as a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both chambers is preparing legislation to scale back the government’s spying powers under Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

It puts McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the bill’s co-sponsor, squarely on the side of advocates of the National Security Agency’s continued ability to collect millions of Americans’ phone records each day in the hunt for clues of terrorist activity.

That NSA program was revealed publicly almost two years ago by a former agency contractor, Edward Snowden. The disclosure touched off a global debate over the proper scope of surveillance by U.S. spy agencies and led President Obama to call for an end to the NSA’s collection of the records.

In filing the bill, McConnell and Burr invoked a Senate rule that enabled them to bypass the traditional committee vetting process and take the bill straight to the floor. No date has been set for such consideration.

The move provoked a swift response from Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, who has been working with other panel members on legislation to end the government’s mass collection of phone and other records for national security purposes.

“Despite overwhelming consensus that the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act must end, Senate Republican leaders are proposing to extend that authority without change,” he said in a statement Tuesday night. “This tone deaf attempt to pave the way for five and a half more years of unchecked surveillance will not succeed. I will oppose any reauthorization of Section 215 that does not contain meaningful reforms.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee has been working with Leahy and his colleagues to craft a new version of the Freedom Act, legislation to end bulk record collection that failed to pass the Senate last year.

They may introduce their bill Wednesday. The current Section 215 authority expires on June 1.

It is far from certain that supporters of a “clean” reauthorization have the votes to prevail. Some veteran Hill aides say such a prospect is highly unlikely — especially in the House — given the number of libertarians who have been highly critical of government surveillance powers.

Indeed, McConnell’s move puts him at odds with the candidate he has endorsed for president, Sen. Rand Paul, a fellow Kentucky Republican, who pledged to end the NSA program — which he called “unconstitutional surveillance” — if elected.

Under the program, the NSA gathers from U.S. phone companies phone data, including numbers dialed, call times and dates, but not the content. Following the outcry over the program, the Obama administration added some additional protections such as requiring a judge to approve each phone number before the agency can run a search on it in its database.

FCC Issues New Neutrality Rules

Net neutrality rules published, lawsuit to overturn them immediately filed:  After Federal Register publication, trade group for ISPs files suit

ars technica

by Jon Brodkin

While the Federal Communications Commission passed its net neutrality rules on February 26, they weren’t published in the Federal Register until today.

Internet providers are now common carriers, and they’re ready to sue.

The publication means a couple of things: the rules go into effect 60 days from today, and parties that oppose the rules have 10 days to file lawsuits against the FCC. Almost immediately after publication, a trade group representing ISPs called USTelecom filed suit in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

USTelecom’s petition said the FCC’s ruling is “arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion” and “violates federal law, including, but not limited to, the Constitution, the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and FCC regulations promulgated thereunder.”

You may recall that this same group sued the FCC over the net neutrality rules last month. That was done just in case the 10-day deadline could be applied after the rules were posted to the FCC’s website, which happened before publication to the Federal Register. In either case, the initial challenge is mostly a procedural matter; detailed briefs laying out a legal argument against the FCC’s rules will probably come this summer.

The FCC’s vote reclassified fixed and mobile broadband providers as common carriers and imposed rules against blocking or throttling Internet content and a ban on prioritizing content in exchange for payment.

USTelecom represents both large and small service providers and suppliers for the telecom industry. AT&T, Verizon, and numerous other companies serve on its board of directors.

While Verizon sued the FCC over its 2010 net neutrality rules (and ultimately won), this time the legal challenges are expected to be led by consortiums rather than individual companies.

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the top group representing cable companies, declined to comment today on whether it plans a lawsuit.