In the News

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 searches of all electronic records.

It is an imperfect compromise, granting the NSA trust it has not earned. It sheds too dim of a light on transparency. More work is needed.

But that compromise, as displayed by Wednesday’s unanimous vote, does not break along traditional partisan lines. The Snowden revelations split apart Congress’ default protection of the intelligence establishment, allowing populist outrage to filter into the staid halls of the Capitol.

U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, a former Microsoft executive, served the interests of the technology sector in her home district with a good amendment to the bill. It allows private companies more freedom to divulge data they are forced to hand over to intelligence agencies. The tech sector, including Microsoft, lobbied vigorously for the change after feeling the wrath of consumers when it appeared too complicit in the NSA’s snooping.

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