National Security

There are times, albeit rare, when a gridlocked U.S. House of Representatives does something meaningful. On Thursday, the House passed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that zeroes out funding for (some) National Security Agency mischief. It's a baby step to safeguard civil liberties — all relative in the anything-goes intelligence culture after 9/11 — but it's a step nonetheless. The Massie-Lofgren amendment, which earned an unexpected 293-123 vote nod, addresses the so-called “ba... Read more

Today Congresswoman Suzan DelBene issued the following statement after voting against a modified version of the USA Freedom Act: “The NSA surveillance bill that the House leadership put before a vote today is a weakened, watered-down version of the USA Freedom Act that I originally cosponsored. “The truth is today’s bill falls short of clearly guaranteeing that massive data collection by the NSA will be put to a full stop. “The question isn’t whether the bill is intended to end bulk collection ... Read more

EDWARD Snowden really knows how to bring a room together. On Wednesday, that room was the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee chambers, where, by a bipartisan 32-0 vote, members approved a bill that would effectively end one of the most controversial spying programs Snowden exposed. The USA Freedom Act is a landmark step toward ending the National Security Agency’s once-secret, warrantless bulk data collection. The bill instead requires a judge’s permission for specific, targeted ... Read more

A bill that would rein in the National Security Agency, increase transparency on what data the government is collecting and create a public advocate in the secret court system unanimously passed the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and is headed to the House for a vote. The USA Freedom Act would make significant changes to the way the NSA and other U.S. intelligence agencies collect and analyze data. Tech companies, including Microsoft, have been pushing for changes since Edward Snowden le... Read more

Key lawmakers in the House are nearing a bipartisan compromise on surveillance legislation that they believe can pass the full chamber and satisfy President Barack Obama's goal of ending mass collection of Americans' phone data, aides said this week. The optimism comes as the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted 32-0 to advance an amended bill that would bar the National Security Agency from gathering billions of call-detail records for counterterrorism purposes. The House Intelligence C... Read more

A House committee on Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to effectively end one of the National Security Agency's most controversial spy programs. With unanimous support, the House Judiciary Committee approved 32-0 an amended version of the USA Freedom Act, which would limit the government's ability to collect bulk metadata of Americans' phone records. Among its several reform provisions, the Freedom Act would move the storage of phone metadata—the numbers and call durations but not the contents... Read more

In a unanimous bipartisan vote, the House Judiciary Committee passed the USA Freedom Act today which would reform the NSA and end the government’s surveillance programs that collect American’s phone data in bulk. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene is an original cosponsor of the USA Freedom Act and was successful in getting a key amendment included in the final bill that passed today. DelBene's amendment would strengthen transparency by permitting greater disclosure by private companies of U.S. govern... Read more

Following today’s reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) has conducted warrantless searches of the content of Americans’ e-mails and other private communications, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene issued the following statement: “The warrantless surveillance of American e-mails and phone calls is outrageous and represents nothing short of a constitutional violation. “For months, the NSA has repeatedly claimed that they have not crossed the line, that no civil liberties have been violated and... Read more

Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) sits down with KING 5's Mark Wright last week to talk about the NSA's broad spying program. DelBene said the NSA should be reigned in and only look at specific phone data. She also talks about proposed cuts the SNAP food stamp program and even gave her predictions for Sunday's Super Bowl. To watch the entire interview, click HERE. Read more

Today, President Obama announced a series of reforms to the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs following a comprehensive, government-wide review of these programs. Rep. DelBene issued the following statement: “I welcome the President’s recognition that action is needed to ensure that Americans’ right to privacy is preserved in the digital age. While the President has outlined the steps the Administration is taking to reform the government’s surveillance programs, his measures are ... Read more