Press Releases

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) applauded House-passage of sweeping reforms to rein in government surveillance programs. DelBene also delivered a floor speech ahead of the vote.

“Bulk collection of American communications records is a gross violation of our civil liberties. I’m glad the House has finally taken action to meaningfully rein in the government’s surveillance programs. It’s time for the Senate to follow suit and end bulk data collection,” DelBene said. “The USA FREEDOM Act is a common-sense, bipartisan proposal. Senate leadership has two options – pass this bipartisan reform or allow the PATRIOT Act to expire on June 1, because a clean reauthorization is unacceptable.”

The USA FREEDOM Act (H.R. 2048) would end bulk data collection under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) courts, and increase transparency by creating a panel of experts that will provide guidance to the courts on issues such as privacy and civil liberties, and by requiring all novel and significant FISA court opinions to be public. The bill also provides options for companies to publicly disclose information about requests they receive from the government, an important reform that DelBene lead the push for in 2014.

The bill passed with broad bipartisan support in the House, sending a message to the Senate that a “clean” reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act is unacceptable.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has introduced a five-year reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act, which the government has used to secretly obtain personal data from U.S. citizens. DelBene said McConnell’s bill is misguided and has little chance of becoming law.

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