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U.S. House Rep. Virginia Foxx voted in favor of legislation to amend certain surveillance authorities currently granted to the United States government.

H.R. 2048, also known as the USA Freedom Act, passed through the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 338-88 on May 13. The act, if signed into law, would make several amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.

It would establish a new process for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to follow when submitting applications to FISA courts requesting intelligence information.

“Congress should be vigilant in ensuring that the government doesn't infringe upon the constitutional rights of individual Americans, and I believe this legislation renews a focus on the civil liberties of our citizens, while providing appropriate, narrow authorities to meet the country’s national security needs,” Foxx said in a news release.

According to Foxx’s press aid Sheridan Watson, the USA Freedom Act specifically prohibits the large-scale, indiscriminate collection of data, such as all records from an entire state, city or zip code.

Watson cites H.R. 2048 Section 103 as prohibiting bulk collection of data. Section 103 reads as follows: ‘‘No order issued under this subsection may authorize the collection of tangible things without the use of a specific selection term that meets the requirements of subsection (b)(2).’’

But not everyone agrees that H.R. 2048 will prevent bulk data collection.

“H.R. 2048 gives our intelligence agencies, for the first time, statutory authority to collect Americans’ data in bulk,” said Justin Amash, who represents Michigan’s Third House District in the U.S. House of Representatives, in a news release.

On May 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the bulk metadata surveillance program ran by the National Security Agency is not authorized by Section 215 of the U.S. Patriot Act. According to Amash, much of the progress gained through this court ruling would be undone with the passage of H.R. 2048.

“In light of the Second Circuit’s opinion that the NSA has been collecting our information in bulk without statutory authority for all this time, it would be a devastating misstep for Congress to pass a bill that codifies that bulk collection,” Amash said.

Shortly after the U.S. House voted to approve H.R. 2048, Amash released information to his constituents explaining why he opposed the USA Freedom Act.

According to Amash, H.R. 2048 authorizes government programs to order the production of records based on “specific selection terms,” such as search terms used in a search engine. This means the court ruling on May 7 will continue to restrain government surveillance to some degree.

However, future courts may rule that the language used in the USA Freedom Act, namely “specific selection term,” are in synch with the U.S. Patriot Act. A ruling of that kind would establish legal precedent for mass surveillance allowed in H.R. 2048.

“In other words, the bill doesn't let the government require Verizon to turn over all its records without limitation, but nothing appears to prevent the government from requiring Verizon to turn over all its records for all its customers in the state of New York," Amash said. "Only a politician or bureaucrat wouldn't call that 'bulk.”

Watson responded to Amash’s comments in an email interview with the Ashe Mountain Times.

“That is one person’s view,” Watson said. “However, if you read the text of the legislation, you’ll find that Section 103 of H.R. 2048 explicitly prohibits the bulk collection of data.”

H.R. 2048 is currently awaiting approval from the U.S. Senate. According to Watson, there is no timetable for consideration.

For the full text of H.R. 2048, visit www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2048/text.

http://ashemountaintimes.com/news/foxx-votes-for-mass-surveillance-regulation/article_80be0a7c-00e4-11e5-958e-07a3b0500680.html