— from Rep. Rick Larsen’s office —

[On June 3] Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, applauded Senate passage of the USA Freedom Act, a bill to end the government’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone record data. Larsen voted for and the House of Representatives passed the bill on May 13. The bipartisan bill (H.R. 2048) makes a number of needed reforms to government surveillance programs.

Larsen has been a vocal advocate of reforming the government’s surveillance programs following revelations about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) bulk data collection. Last Congress, Larsen introduced the Government Surveillance Transparency Act, which aimed to increase transparency by allowing technology companies to disclose the volume and type of information they were ordered to turn over to the government. A version of this proposal is included in the USA Freedom Act.

“The USA Freedom Act moves our country in the right direction toward respecting the public’s right to privacy and protecting national security.

“The bill puts a stop to the government’s indiscriminate bulk collection of information about Americans. And it demands much more transparency about the government’s surveillance activities, in part by allowing tech companies to disclose orders from the government to hand over phone data. The American public deserves to know what data the government collects.

“I am also pleased the bill directs the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to begin releasing information about its decisions. Like the rest of our judiciary, the court’s activities should be subject to the light of day so the public can see the body of law the court is creating.

“The privacy advocate position the bill creates on the court also is an important check on the government’s activities. The advocate will be responsible for upholding the public’s civil liberties and pushing back against government intrusion into people’s privacy,” Larsen said.

Sections of the Patriot Act under which the government conducts surveillance expired on June 1. The USA Freedom Act addresses these provisions.

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