Justin Amash
Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., comments about the vote on the defense spending bill and his failed amendment that would have cut funding to the National Security Agency's program that collects the phone records of U.S. citizens and residents, at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 24, 2013.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A letter signed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, places congressional leadership on notice to reform the country's surveillance practices.
Amash, R-Cascade Township, and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., published the message Wednesday, May 20, amid increasing pressure to act on the National Security Agency's domestic spying programs.
Its phone data collection program was deemed "unlawful" by a federal appeals court two weeks ago.
The letter, signed by 60 House representatives, calls upon Republican and Democratic leadership in the Senate to address concerns that the newest version of the USA Freedom Act does not go far enough to completely dismantle the NSA's programs and protect the privacy of all Americans.
The bill passed the House on Wednesday, May 13, by a 338-88 vote. It's written to end the NSA's collection of bulk phone records but allows the agency to ask private companies for records tied to a case, The Hill reports.
Amash and the letter's cosigners insist the original Freedom Act, introduced in October 2013, is the ideal solution to curb the agency's power to conduct communications sweeps and restrict the government's reach into collected data without warrants, among other changes. It was backed by a similar, bipartisan group of 152 House lawmakers before several amendments were added and "weakened" the bill, in Amash's words.
The letter reads, in part:
Related: Appeals court rules NSA broke the law
Amash's cohort in the Senate, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, ended a more than 10-hour filibuster of extending the Patriot Act last night. It's up for renewal before a June 1 deadline, and Paul pledged that ending the NSA's surveillance will be the first action he takes as president.
Amash-Lewis Letter to the Senate
Andrew Krietz covers breaking, politics and transportation news for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at akrietz@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.