Breaking: USA Freedom Act Passes Senate.

[MineralMan]

Just heard this on the CBS radio news. No link yet.

ETA: Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/02/politics/senate-usa-freedom-act-vote-patriot-act-nsa/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Gotta love those Orwellian titles.

Freedom, my ass.

[MineralMan]

8. I'm just reporting the vote.

Don't kill the messenger.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Oh, I know. Just chuckling (darkly) at the title of the thing.

[MineralMan]

10. Bill titles are always interesting, aren't they.

I still remember the Peacekeeper Missile.

Arbeit macht Frei!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Congress seems to lack a sense of irony.

[hifiguy]

24. Everything that is not mandatory is forbidden.

Everything not forbidden is mandatory.

Freedumb.

[HooptieWagon]

2. Have to see details.

There was talk of amendments, or promises of amending it in future, for it to pass. We shall see.

[MineralMan]

5. I have no details.

It is a major modification of the Patriot Act, as I understand, and seriously restricts things like the NSA collecting of information on people who are not under suspicion. If that's the case, then I don't have a lot of problems with it. We still have some security problems outstanding.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Some of the proposed

Included major mods to 215.

After turkey goes to oven... Some research to do.

[peecoolyour]

3. I wonder how many YES votes were because they were afraid of getting the Hastert treatment? nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Yay! The NSA, CIA, FBI, and MIC will enjoy their Freedom!!

[MineralMan]

6. I didn't comment on the content of it.

I just reported the vote.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. I know you didn't. I was commenting on the vote.

[MineralMan]

7. Here's a link:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/02/politics/senate-usa-freedom-act-vote-patriot-act-nsa/

[MineralMan]

13. Apparently, the Senate passed the House version

without amendments. It goes to President Obama for his signature. Apparently he will sign it.

If I understand this correctly, it limits the NSA's ability to monitor communications and requires specific court orders. I have not read the bill, though, so I'm not sure how strong these limits are.

[kentuck]

15. What's the difference in "it" and the Patriot Act??

I haven't heard much of this debate. But when they give it a name like "Freedom", we should be very wary.

[MineralMan]

16. I don't know, actually,

except for the new restrictions on NSA communication intercepts.

[PowerToThePeople]

17. Roll Call

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=114&session=1&vote=00201

[MineralMan]

18. I see only one Democrat voting against it.

Interesting. Sanders, too, by he's an Independent as a Senator.

[PowerToThePeople]

20. and an Independent Senator running for POTUS in the Democratic primaries.

eom

[MineralMan]

21. Yes. I looked at the votes by party, and missed Sanders.

I edited the post above.

[kentuck]

19. I heard a bit of the debate...

A Senator was saying something to the effect that we had to be able to keep secrets and he was critical of Edward Snowden.. I didn't catch his name..

[lovemydog]

22. From BBC News:

US Senate votes to curtail bulk data collection

The US Senate has voted to limit the government's ability to collect phone data, a policy that had been in place since the attacks of 11 September 2001. The USA Freedom Act extends the government's ability to collect large amounts of data, but with restrictions. The bill, which replaces the Patriot Act, had been backed by President Barack Obama as a necessary tool to fight terrorism. Mr Obama said on Tuesday that he will sign the bill into law.

The bill undoes a national security policy that had been in place since shortly after the attacks on 11 September 2001. The new law replaces a National Security Agency (NSA) program in which the spy agency collected personal data en masse. The revelation of this program by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden triggered a global public backlash.

Instead of receiving bulk quantities of data from telephone and internet companies the NSA will now be forced to request the information through a court order. The data will also be stored on telephone and internet company servers rather than government servers. The request must be specific to an individual entity such as a person, account, or electronic device. A six-month transition will be in place as the policy shifts so that data storage remains with private companies, rather than on government servers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32982140

[MineralMan]

23. Sounds like a good change.

No wonder all but one Senate democrat voted for it. Senator Sanders voted no. Obama will sign it. There it is.

[lovemydog]

25. I think it's better than what came before it.

I can understand why President Obama will sign it, because it could have been worse, we still need counterterrorism efforts in place, and this will replace the most intrusive aspects of the Patriot Act. I can also understand why Senator Sanders voted no, as he feels it doesn't protect individual privacy enough. I respect them both.

[grasswire]

26. so none of Wyden's amendments passed?

If so, I can't see how this is progress for Democrats.