NEWS & COMMENTARY It's crunch time whether Congress will prohibit warrantless searches of Americans



Representative Justin Amash, Republican of Michigan, is sponsoring a bill amendment that would extend Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act by four years while making major changes to it.



Charlie Savage, reporting in the New York Times reports: A years-long debate over National Security Agency surveillance and protections for Americans' privacy rights will reach a climactic moment on Thursday as the House of Representatives takes up legislation to extend a program of warrantless spying on internet and phone networks that traces back to the Sept. 11 attacks.



There is little doubt that Congress will extend an expiring statute, known as Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, that permits the government to collect without a warrant from American firms, like Google and AT&T, the emails and other communications of foreigners abroad — even when they are talking to Americans.



But it is far from clear whether Congress will impose significant new safeguards for Americans' privacy. A bipartisan coalition of civil-liberties-minded lawmakers are trying to impose such changes, while the Trump administration, the intelligence community and House Republican leadership oppose them.



Thursday's vote is seen as the crucial test because more would-be reformers are in the House than in the Senate, which will take up the legislation later. If majority support for imposing new privacy protections on the program does not exist in the House, the Senate is unlikely to add them in."The chances are better in the House," acknowledged Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, at a news conference on Wednesday of House and Senate lawmakers who support surveillance overhaul efforts. "The privacy movement is stronger in the House than the Senate. Maybe we can learn from you guys." [There's more ]



Commentary



The Amash amendments should be passed by the House. There is absolutely no reason a single Representative or Senator should not vote for these amendments. Each of them put their hands on a Bible and took and oath to support and defend the Constitution. And for over two-hundred years that Constitution prohibited warrantless searches. All that changed on 9-11. But be that as it may, we have seen how warrantless searches can, and have been, abused.



As for us, we would rather protect our liberties from an intrusive government than be protected from terrorists. Our liberty is more important than our security.



The really shameful thing about this process is that the bill does not already included these protections of Americans. If Sen. Burr was doing his job he would have seen to it that the safeguards were included in the first draft and he should have been working with the House to insure that. Representative Justin Amash, Republican of Michigan, is sponsoring a bill amendment that would extend Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act by four years while making major changes to it.Charlie Savage, reporting in thereports: Click here to go to the original source to read the rest of the story.

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