Senator Mark Udall (D. CO) continues to take on the NSA's domestic surveillance program:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/...
Democratic Sen. Mark Udall said Sunday he believes the Patriot Act should be reformed so Americans’ phone records do not get indiscriminately swept up in a federal government database, but that the National Security Agency is within its right to collect phone records of foreigners.
Speaking on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Udall told host Bob Schieffer that the NSA’s collection of Americans’ phone records — the contents of the phone conversations are not available, but the time, phone number and length of call is — does not make the country safer and violates Americans’ privacy rights.
“The NSA is literally collecting every phone record of every American every day,” Udall said. “I think knowing when I call somebody, from where I call somebody, and for how long I call somebody is a violation of your privacy.”
Udall said he had no problem with the so-called PRISM program, which mostly collects communications from foreigners. - Denver Post, 7/28/13
More below the fold.
Udall also had this to say:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/...
Colorado Sen. Mark Udall called the National Security Agency’s phone surveillance program “close to being unconstitutional,” arguing Sunday that “there’s a better way” to protect against terrorist attacks without infringing Americans’ privacy.
Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, Udall, a Democrat, warned that “the NSA is literally collecting every phone record of every American, every day.” Although the NSA is not authorized to listen to those phone calls, the collection of that data represents a “violation of your privacy,” Udall said.
“There are apps you can get on your smartphone and your smart tablet or your computer that can take that data and give a pretty good impression of what you do during your daily activities,” Udall said. “To me, that is a violation of Americans’ privacy.” - Washington Examiner, 7/28/13
Udall also added this:
http://www.latimes.com/...
"We don't need to do this to fight an effective war against terrorism."
"The content of those phone calls is not available. But I think knowing when I call somebody, from where I call somebody, and for how long I call somebody is a violation of your privacy," he said.
"We're vacuuming up innocent Americans' phone records. Let's restrict that to terrorists or spies," he added. - Los Angeles Times, 7/28/13
Udall is also pushing legislation to protect American citizens' privacy:
http://www.politico.com/...
Udall said a new bill he recently introduced with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) protects not just Americans, but the “biggest, baddest weapon we have,” the Bill of Rights.
“My bill, which I want to push as hard as I possibly can, would limit the ways in which the intelligence community accesses average Americans', innocent Americans', phone records. That's the way to go forward,” Udall said. “That's the way in which to protect not just our people but the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is the biggest, baddest weapon we have.”
Udall and Wyden are pitching a bill that would require a demonstrated link to terrorists or international spies for the intelligence community to collect phone call data. On Sunday, Udall suggested the NSA should access phone records the same way police or FBI do, with a warrant.
“I'd much rather have that data held by the phone companies,” Udall said. “If we need to get access to it, the FISA court can issue a warrant. That's how the police operate. That's how the FBI operates.” - Politico, 7/28/13
Hopefully Udall and Wyden's bill will gain some major traction in the Senate. Some top Senate Democrats are starting to echo Udall's call:
Democratic lawmakers said Sunday they would push for greater oversight of the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of U.S. phone calling records, stoking a debate that has divided members of Congress, especially Republicans.
"It's clear that the sentiment is growing for oversight," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chamber’s second-ranking Democrat, said on ABC’s "This Week."
The idea that the NSA is collecting the phone records of everyone "on the off chance" that someone may be a suspect at a later time "goes way too far," Durbin said.
The House last week came close to approving a measure to curtail the program in a vote that scrambled the usual political alliances. - LA Times, 7/28/13
If you would like to get more information on Udall and Wyden's bill, please contact their offices for more details:
Udall: (202) 224-5941
Wyden: (202) 224-5244
And if you would like to donate or get involved with Udall's 2014 re-election campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.markudall.com/