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 After debate pitting Americans' distrust of intrusive government
against fears of terrorist attacks, the Senate voted to advance
reform legislation that would replace the bulk phone records program
revealed two years ago by former National Security Agency contractor
Edward Snowden.
Although the Senate did not act in time to keep the program from
expiring, the vote was at least a partial victory for Democratic
President Barack Obama, who had pushed for the reform measure as a
compromise addressing privacy concerns while preserving a tool to
help protect the country from attack.
But final Senate passage was delayed until at least Tuesday by
objections from Senator Rand Paul, a libertarian Republican
presidential hopeful who has fulminated against the NSA program as
illegal and unconstitutional.
As a result, the government's collection and search of phone records
terminated at midnight when key provisions of a post-Sept. 11, 2001,
law known as the USA Patriot Act expired.
In addition, U.S. law enforcement and security agencies will lose
authority to conduct other programs.
Those allow for "roving wiretaps" aimed at terrorism suspects who
use multiple disposable cell phones; permit authorities to target
"lone wolf" suspects with no connection to specific terrorist
groups, and make it easier to seize personal and business records of
suspects and their associates.
Still, eventual resumption of the phone records program in another
form, and the other government powers, appeared likely after the
Senate voted 77-17 to take up the reform legislation, called the USA
Freedom Act.
"This bill will ultimately pass," Paul acknowledged after the
procedural vote.
The Senate abruptly reversed course during a rare Sunday session to
let the bill go ahead, after Republican Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell reluctantly acknowledged that Paul had stymied his efforts
to extend the Patriot Act provisions.
Intelligence experts say a lapse of only a few days would have
little immediate effect. The government is allowed to continue
collecting information related to any foreign intelligence
investigation that began before the deadline.
Obama strongly backed the Freedom Act, as have most Democrats. It
passed the House of Representatives on May 13 by 338-88.
After the Senate adjourned, the White House issued a statement
calling on the Senate to "put aside partisan motivations and act
swiftly."
The measure could face more debate in Congress. Republican Senator
Richard Burr offered several amendments, including one to extend the
existing program for 12 months to provide more time to adopt changes
mandated by the Freedom Act.
That could be a problem for some House members, because it doubles
the transition period in their version of the bill.
'DEMAGOGUERY AND DISINFORMATION'
Republicans have been deeply divided on the issue. Security hawks
wanted the NSA program to continue as is, and libertarians like Paul
want to kill it altogether.
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The Senate debate was angry.
Paul said the Patriot Act provisions wasted resources better spent
targeting those planning attacks. He even accused some of his
critics of wanting an attack on the United States "so they can blame
it on me."
McConnell accused Paul, his fellow Kentucky Republican, and other
Patriot Act opponents of waging "a campaign of demagoguery and
disinformation" based on revelations from Snowden "who was last seen
in Russia."
McConnell has endorsed Paul for president. But he wanted to extend
the Patriot Act provisions, unchanged, for five years, and agreed
only reluctantly to allow a vote on the Freedom Act despite what he
called its "serious flaws."
Several senators accused Paul of using the issue to raise money for
his presidential campaign.
"He obviously has a higher priority for his fundraising and
political ambitions than for the security of the nation," Senator
John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, told
reporters.
The Senate resumed consideration of the legislation at 4 p.m. EDT,
just as security officials said they had to begin shutting down the
NSA program to meet the deadline.
The Freedom Act would end spy agencies' bulk collection of domestic
telephone "metadata" and replace it with a more targeted system.
The records would be held by telecommunications companies, not the
government, and the NSA would have to get court approval to gain
access to specific data. Neither the current nor proposed new system
gives the government access to the content of phone conversations.
Many civil liberties groups feel the Freedom Act does not go far
enough in protecting privacy.
"Congress should take advantage of this sunset to pass far reaching
surveillance reform, instead of the weak bill currently under
consideration," Michael Macleod-Ball, acting director of the
American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office, said
in a statement.
A review panel Obama established in 2013 concluded that the metadata
collection program had not been essential to preventing any
terrorist attack. Security officials counter that it provides
important data they can combine with other intelligence to help stop
attacks.
(Additional reporting by Douwe Miedema and Bill Trott; Editing by
Eric Walsh and Sandra Maler)
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