Justin Amash Unimpressed With Obama’s NSA Reforms

The libertarian Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), leader of the House
Liberty Caucus, tells
The Hill that President Barack Obama’s suggested reforms
to the way the National Security Agency collects bulk data may
actually make a bad situation worse:

Amash told The Hill that he wants the Judiciary Committee to
pass Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr.’s (R-Wis.) “USA Freedom Act,”
which goes further than the administration and Intelligence leaders
to curb the NSA’s surveillance programs.

The bill from Sensenbrenner, a primary author of the 2001
Patriot Act, would stop the bulk collection of phone records and
require data collection to be tied to a specific investigation.

“We don’t have enough information about the administration’s
proposal to really understand where they’re going with it,” Amash
said Wednesday.

“We’ve seen some of what the House Intelligence Committee has
put out. … Based on what I’ve read about it, it appears to expand
the NSA’s authority,” he said. “It doesn’t end bulk collection but
actually puts more Americans in danger of having their
constitutionally protected rights violated.”