Vermont Congressional Delegation backs legislation limiting surveillance powers
Vermont’s congressional delegation is pushing proposals that would limit the government’s surveillance powers and reveal authorities’ rationale in deciding when to use those powers.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., proposed legislation last week to limit the NSA’s and FBI’s powers to secretly track Americans’ phone calls as part of terrorism investigations.
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Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has co-sponsored a bill to declassify “significant” Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinions, showing how the government interprets the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance and Patriot acts in granting surveillance requests.
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And Democratic Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont is backing House legislation that would do both: declassify significant FISA court opinions and set a higher standard of review for court orders authorizing surveillance.
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Both Sanders and Welch opposed the Patriot Act and legislation to expand and extend surveillance powers authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Leahy supported the Patriot Act when it originally passed in 2001, but he said he opposed extending certain provisions because of a lack of sufficient oversight and privacy protections. He opposed a reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act last December because it did not include reforms he proposed.
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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130617/NEWS03/306170019/Vermont-congressional-delegation-seeks-legislative-response-government-snooping
