Following the Senate vote approving the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048) without amendment, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.), Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), and Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) issued the following joint statement:
“We applaud the Senate for finally approving the House-passed USA Freedom Act. This strong, bipartisan bill contains the most sweeping set of reforms to government surveillance practices in nearly 40 years. The USA Freedom Act ends bulk collection, strengthens civil liberties protections, increases transparency for both American businesses and the government, and provides national security officials with new, targeted tools to keep America safe.
“The USA Freedom Act is a carefully crafted compromise that has the support of the President, the Attorney General, the intelligence community, the technology industry and privacy groups, and most importantly, the American people. The Senate should have acted before three national security provisions expired, but we are pleased that this historic piece of legislation is now on its way to becoming the law of the land.”