Mitch McConnell: USA FREEDOM Act Would Be ‘Tying Our Hands Behind Our Back.’ Yes, That’s Actually the Point of It.

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote this evening
on a watered down version of the USA FREEDOM Act that aims to rein
in some of the worst domestic surveillance abuses of the National
Security Agency (NSA). The Guardian
reports:

“This is the worst possible time to be tying our hands behind
our back,” said McConnell, who will become majority leader in
January.

“At the moment, we should not be doing anything to make the
situation worse.”

Libertarianish Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has said that he
won’t support the bill because it’s too weak. That is a
mistake. When NSA-enabler McConnell and his minions take over the
leadership of the Senate in January, they will certainly do nothing
to prevent further unconstitutional NSA violations of the privacy
and liberty protections afforded Americans by the Fourth
Amendment.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
notes:

The new Senate version of the USA FREEDOM Act would:

-Rein in the NSA’s illegal collection of millions of Americans’
telephone records by amending one of the worst provisions of the
PATRIOT Act, Section 215.

-Create a special advocate position that will serve as an amicus
in the secret surveillance court, arguing for civil liberties and
privacy.

-Provide new reporting requirements about surveillance, so that
the NSA is forced to tell us how many people are actually being
surveilled under its programs, including the program that allows
the NSA to see the contents of Americans’ communications without a
warrant.

The bill is far from what is needed, but it’s better than
nothing.