Rand Paul Gives Thumbs Down to Weaker NSA Reform Bill

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) gave a
strong signal today that he intends to try to keep surveillance and
National Security Agency (NSA) reform in the news. His office has
told beltway media that Paul will not support the Senate version of
the USA Freedom Act, a legislative effort to scale back the massive
expansion of surveillance against American citizens exposed by
Edward Snowden. The problem is that the proposals have been watered
down too much. From
The Hill:

“Sen. Paul does not feel that the current NSA reforms go far
enough,” the aide said in an email.

“There are significant problems with the bill, the most
notable being an extension of the Patriot Act through December
2017.”

The USA Freedom Act, which the Senate will take up next week,
would end the NSA’s bulk collection of metadata about Americans’
phone calls, among other changes. Metadata includes the numbers
people dial as well as the length and frequency of their calls, but
not the actual content of their conversations.

Crucially for Paul, however, the bill also
reauthorizes until the end of 2017 key portions of the
Patriot Act set to expire next June.

The Hill says Paul may also push for a measure to allow
Americans to sue the NSA and other federal agencies.

Though the Senate bill has been watered down from its initial
intent, it’s not as terrible as what has become of the House
version of the bill. J.D. Tuccille wrote about the differences
between the two versions of the bill
here. There’s some American Civil Liberties Union analysis of
the legislation and some reluctant support
here.