Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-10), a veteran member of the House Judiciary Committee, called for support of the Sensenbrenner/Lofgren/Massie amendment which seeks to end the “backdoor search” loophole in section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act. This loophole has allowed the government to search for the communications of United States citizens without a warrant.

“I am proud to be a leading co-sponsor of the Sensenbrenner/Lofgren/Massie amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act. After the passage of the USA Freedom Act, this amendment is the logical next step to prevent improper surveillance,” said Congressman Nadler. “I will continue to work to improve our nation’s privacy laws and to ensure that this Administration, and all those that follow it, respect the constitutional rights of all Americans.”

In his May 22, 2014 speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Nadler spoke about the need to approve the USA Freedom Act, and then to improve upon it.

“The USA Freedom Act on the floor today certainly does not give us everything we want or need…. It is far from perfect, but it is an important step forward,” said Congressman Nadler on the House floor last month. “But a ‘no’ vote on this bill may mean no reform at all, thus leaving in place the framework that led to the dragnet surveillance of our citizens. This bill makes critically important changes that we all should support.”

For more than two decades, Congressman Nadler has fought to protect the civil liberties and civil rights of every American. During the last several months, the Congressman worked with his colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to pass the USA Freedom Act. While that bill contains some significant reforms, such as ending NSA’s bulk collection of metadata from Americans, more reforms are still needed.

“The NSA must stop conducting illegal ‘backdoor searches’ into the communications of U.S. citizens. Congress must adopt the Sensenbrenner/Lofgren/Massie amendment and make sure that this loophole is closed in the law. For too long, the NSA has misused authority granted under section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, which was meant only to authorize spying on foreigners,” said Congressman Nadler. “However, the NSA has misused this authority to search emails, pictures, videos, and other internet traffic of innocent Americans. This practice is clearly unconstitutional and violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, and normally requires a court-issued warrant. Clearly, this is not how Congress intended the law to be applied.”

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