A bill put forward by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., proposes to slap some limits on the U.S. government’s collecting of information on Americans under its warrantless electronic spying program and forfeit access to information gathered if the courts that oversee such surveillance reject a spying request.

“Keeping Americans safe versus protecting Americans’ privacy is a false choice,” Merkley said. “We have a moral and constitutional duty to do both.”

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.