Republican leaders have voted to denounce the “intrusion on basic human rights that threatens the very foundations of a democratic society” by the National Security Agency and backed efforts in Congress to outlaw all bulk collection of data on Americans.



A resolution on the NSA supported by a near-unanimous show of hands from members of the Republican National Committee, who were gathered in Washington on Friday for their winter conference, is not binding on GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but nonetheless reflects a growing mood of unease over NSA activities, according to party officials.



In its resolution, the RNC also called for a special committee to “investigate, report, and reveal to the public the extent of this domestic spying” and “hold accountable those public officials who are found to be responsible for this unconstitutional surveillance”. The resolution goes on to say that “the mass collection and retention of personal data is in itself contrary to the right of privacy protected by the fourth amendment of the United States constitution".



The language is far tougher than anything to have emerged from either party's establishment before. Still, one senior GOP official at the conference in Washington cautioned against reading too much into the “symbolic” vote, which he said may have little direct influence over the party leaders in the House of Representatives who have the power to decide whether reform legislation proceeds.

Nevertheless, others at the conference said the vote did reflect mainstream thinking in the party.

“I think that the committee's resolution this morning was about reflecting where it thinks sentiment lies,” the RNC deputy press secretary, Raffi Williams, told the Guardian.

“It wasn't done in an attempt to attract one part of the demographic but to reflect what the Republican party believes.”

Republican efforts to enact tougher reforms of the NSA than those proposed by President Barack Obama are led by congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, whose bipartisan USA Freedom Act was echoed in the language of the RNC resolution.

“The Republican National Committee encourages Republican lawmakers to enact legislation to amend Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, the state secrets privilege, and the Fisa Amendments Act to make it clear that blanket surveillance of the internet activity, phone records and correspondence – electronic, physical, and otherwise – of any person residing in the US is prohibited by law and that violations can be reviewed in adversarial proceedings before a public court,” the resolution says.

It also “encourages Republican lawmakers to immediately take action to halt current unconstitutional surveillance programs and provide a full public accounting of the NSA’s data collection programs”.