Press Releases

DelBene Statement on Reports of U.S. Secretly Collecting American Phone Records

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene issued the following statement regarding reports in the news of the government secretly collecting phone records of Americans:

“I am deeply concerned by the recent news reports about a domestic surveillance program that involves the secret collection of phone records of millions of Americans.

“It’s troubling how broad this program is. From the information revealed in the news, it amounts to a secret and blanket form of surveillance on the American public - whether they are suspected of wrongdoing or not. This raises significant questions about what kind of surveillance and data collection the government thinks is acceptable before they begin to infringe on the public’s constitutional right to privacy.

“The American people deserve an explanation by the administration on why they believe such a far reaching surveillance program is necessary. As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I will be calling for greater oversight of these surveillance programs. This new disclosure is a stark reminder that as technology continues to advance, we must be vigilant to ensure that our laws are updated to protect our civil liberties and reasonably balance them with national security needs.”

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