Democratic Senator Wants Oversight of Surveillance Programs
Senator Patrick Leahy has introduced a bill seeking to rein in the sweeping U.S. government surveillance programs exposed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The bill would expand reporting requirements for the secret programs, add more court reviews and move up the expiration of the authorization for some of the data collection by 2-1/2 years, says Reuters.
Leahy's co-sponsors for the latest bill include Republican Senator Mike Lee and four Senate Democrats - Mark Udall, Ron Wyden, Richard Blumenthal and Jon Tester.
Among other things, the bill would let the government obtain records using Section 215 of the Patriot Act only when it can establish that the information is relevant to an authorized investigation and linked to a foreign terrorist group or power.
The legislation would also shorten the expiration of the FISA Amendments Act to June 2015 from December 2017, and require an audit on the impact of the surveillance on Americans' privacy.
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