Tech Industry Encourages House Leaders To Pass USA Freedom Act
Several leading tech organizations sent a joint letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Monday encouraging the passage of the USA Freedom Act (HR-2048) introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., House Judiciary…
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Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., a news release said. The letter signed by BSA|The Software Alliance, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Internet Association, Reform Government Surveillance, the Software & Information Industry Association and TechNet, said “public trust in the technology sector is critical” and has declined since the U.S. surveillance programs were revealed two years ago. Editorial boards from USA Today, The Washington Post, The News & Advance, Tampa Bay Times, The Des Moines Register and Los Angeles Times support passage of the bill, the House Judiciary Committee said in a news release Monday. The full House is expected to vote on the bill either Wednesday or Thursday, according to the House leader’s schedule. The USA Patriot Act expires June 1. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., continues to support a clean reauthorization of the law (see 1505070041), saying the statute wasn't ruled unconstitutional. The judges “did not conclude Section 215 was unconstitutional, nor did it order a halt to the program, but rather remanded further decisions to the district court,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Friday. “Other district courts have found that Section 215 is legal and constitutional, as have at least 15 different federal judges serving on the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] Court on 41 occasions,” Feinstein said. There's strong support among the American people and in the Obama administration to “restructure the program in a way that requires the government to get FISA Court approval before obtaining specific call records from telecommunications companies,” Feinstein said. She said she was open to supporting such a reform, but also said “we must continue to provide the tools the intelligence community needs to do its job.”