Udall: Senate's Failure to Advance USA Freedom Act Not the End of NSA Reform
Renews Call to Rein In Overbroad Surveillance, Protect Americans' Privacy
Mark Udall, a leading advocate for protecting Americans' privacy rights from unwarranted government intrusion, said today's failure to advance the USA Freedom Act is a severe setback but not the end of efforts to protect Americans' privacy rights. Udall urged his colleagues to continue to find common ground and end the dragnet collection of Americans' phone records and the warrantless "backdoor" searches of Americans' electronic communications.
"While our effort to rein in overbroad government surveillance did not move forward today, this is not the end of the fight to protect Americans' privacy rights," Udall said. "Our constitutional liberties are simply too important to be cast aside, and I won't stop working to make sure we keep faith with our founding values."
Udall has led the charge to rein in the NSA's overbroad domestic surveillance. He has introduced landmark legislation to rein in overbroad domestic surveillance and has long called for the privacy protections within the USA Freedom Act to be strengthened. He also has been a vocal champion of strong, independent congressional oversight of our intelligence agencies and holding these agencies accountable when they betray our constitutional values.