Fourteen years after the Patriot Act was passed by the Bush administration in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, two congressmen have co-sponsored a bill to completely dismantle the surveillance law.
Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) have drafted the Surveillance State Repeal Act (H.R. 1466), and released a press release explaining their reasoning:
“The Patriot Act contains many provisions that violate the Fourth Amendment and have led to a dramatic expansion of our domestic surveillance state,” said Rep. Massie. “Our Founding Fathers fought and died to stop the kind of warrantless spying and searches that the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act authorize. It is long past time to repeal the Patriot Act and reassert the constitutional rights of all Americans. I am proud to co-sponsor Congressman Pocan’s bill and look forward to working with him on this issue.”
The new bill would not only effectively repeal the Patriot Act, but would also order the destruction of all information collected on citizens not being investigated. It would also restrict the government from ordering work-arounds for manufacturer encryptions.
According to The Hill, the bill will be a “nonstarter,” considering that lesser surveillance reform bills have failed to pass.
“The bill is likely to be a nonstarter for leaders in Congress, who have been worried that even much milder reforms to the nation’s spying laws would tragically handicap the nation’s ability to fight terrorists. A similar bill was introduced in 2013 but failed to gain any movement in the House.
Yet advocates might be hoping that their firm opposition to government spying will seem more attractive in coming weeks, as lawmakers race to beat a June 1 deadline for reauthorizing portions of the Patriot Act.”
Luckily for Massie and Pocan, their initiative has support in the House and Senate with other lawmakers, including Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
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