Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), a veteran member of the House Judiciary Committee, delivered a statement during today’s markup of the USA Freedom Act.

“Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States government has aggressively expanded surveillance in and outside the United States at a high cost to individual liberty and privacy.  Americans have been subjected to warrantless wiretapping, national security letters have been issued without proper authorization and claiming an emergency when none existed, and the National Security Agency has collected, warehoused, and searched the daily phone records of everyday Americans who have absolutely no ties to terrorism,” said Congressman Nadler. “Congress never authorized this type of unchecked, sweeping surveillance of our citizens.”

The following is the full text of Congressman Nadler’s statement (as prepared for delivery):

            “Thank you Chairman Goodlatte.

            “The manager’s amendment offered by our colleague from Wisconsin, Representative Sensenbrenner, provides the first real chance in more than a decade to place legislative limits on sweeping, unwarranted – and at times unlawful – government surveillance.

            “Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States government has aggressively expanded surveillance in and outside the United States at a high cost to individual liberty and privacy.  Americans have been subjected to warrantless wiretapping, national security letters have been issued without proper authorization and claiming an emergency when none existed, and the National Security Agency has collected, warehoused, and searched the daily phone records of everyday Americans who have absolutely no ties to terrorism.

            “Today, we have a chance to roll back some of the changes made through the USA PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act that gave rise to many of these abuses.  We should seize this chance.

            “First, and most critically, the manager’s amendment ends bulk collection, or ‘dragnet surveillance,’ under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, and ensures that the government cannot use its national security letter authority, or pen registers and trap and trace devices, for bulk collection either.  

            “Under Section 215, which allows collection of ‘tangible things’ ‘relevant’ to an authorized national security investigation, the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting and warehousing telephone metadata.  This metadata reveals all numbers dialed, all incoming phone numbers, and call duration.  While not providing the actual words spoken, this information still reveals highly personal and sensitive information that can paint a detailed picture of one’s personal, professional, and political associations and activities.    

            “Congress never authorized this type of unchecked, sweeping surveillance of our citizens.  Instead – by authorizing collection of ‘relevant’ records – we required a reasonable relationship between the collection of records and persons actually being investigated for, or suspected of, terrorism.  This relevance standard was effectively written out of the statute when the FISA court accepted the government’s argument that the entire universe of call records are ‘relevant’ because it allows a later search for calls associated with actual terror suspects.

            “The manager’s amendment fixes this problem by expressly banning bulk collection and requiring the government to include a specific selection term – a term that identifies a specific person, entity, or account – to be used as the basis for requesting a court order authorizing the collection of any information.  This restores meaning to the term ‘relevant’ by requiring the government to establish that the records sought are tied to an authorized foreign intelligence investigation.

            “At the same time, the manager’s amendment codifies the President’s telephone metadata reform proposal.  As requested, it allows the government to obtain a court order authorizing it to obtain the telephone metadata records that it needs from phone companies in specific cases.  The companies – not the government – keep the underlying records, which are only searched using specific selection terms designed to return only those records that are relevant to a terrorism investigation.  This new program is limited to call detail records; it does not extend to any other tangible things.

            “These changes are significant, as are the adjustments to FISA Section 702, which allows the NSA to obtain data – including email, chat, photos, video, and stored data – for persons located outside the United States.  Section 702 inevitably and unquestionably results in the collection of wholly domestic communications and information to, from, or about United States persons.  Among other things, the manager’s amendment entirely prohibits the retention and dissemination of wholly domestic communications and prohibits the government from using information acquired in violation of court-approved targeting or minimization procedures.   

            “The amendment does not give us everything we want or need, but it is a significant step in the right direction.  I applaud Chairman Goodlatte and Representative Sensenbrenner for their leadership and willingness to work with us to make this happen. 

            “As the Committee of primary jurisdiction for the USA PATRIOT Act and FISA Amendments Act, this Committee has long taken the lead, and held responsibility, for ensuring that our national security needs do not trump our core Constitutional freedoms.  Over the past decade – under the leadership of four chairmen with diverse political views – the Members of this Committee have vigorously debated the proper balance between our safety and our civil liberties.  Reporting the substitute amendment to the House with robust bipartisan support will send a clear signal that we are serious about protecting our people’s privacy and civil liberties as well as their security. 

            “I therefore urge you to vote in favor of the manager’s amendment.  I yield back the balance of my time.”

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