US House to debate funding for NSA data mining
Debate comes six weeks after Edward Snowden's revelations
US lawmakers will begin debate as early as Tuesday on whether to halt intelligence agencies from spying on millions of Americans, but senior senators warned the effort was “unwise”.
The debate comes six weeks after a National Security Agency contractor, Edward Snowden, divulged details of huge programs that collect telephone and Internet data on millions of Americans and foreigners.
A handful of liberal Democrats have joined Tea Party conservatives in the House of Representatives in sponsoring an amendment to halt NSA surveillance of Americans who are not connected to an ongoing probe.
Republican congressman Justin Amash tweeted his thanks to House Speaker John Boehner for bringing the amendment - which is tacked on to the defence spending bill under review - up for open debate this week.
“My amendment blocks funding of the NSA’s collection of personal data if that data does not pertain to a person under investigation,” Amash said on Twitter.
In addition to limiting the government’s ability under the Patriot Act to collect such information, the bill also requires that secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court opinions be made available to Congress and that summaries of those opinions be made public.
House Democrats John Conyers and Jared Polis joined Amash’s amendment, which they said “makes sure that innocent Americans’ information isn’t needlessly swept up into a government database.”