(RT) On the eve of a congressional discussion that may lend to ending the National Security Agency’s mass collection of domestic phone records, the White House made the rare move late Tuesday of issuing a statement condemning proposed legislation.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday evening that a bipartisan-supported amendment expected to go before a vote later this week would “hastily dismantle” a key counterterrorism tool used by the United States intelligence community if approved.
The amendment, authored by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan) and supported by democratic colleague Rep. John Conyers, would forbid the NSA from further interpreting Section 215 of the Patriot Act in the manner that has allowed the agency to routinely collect the daily phone records of millions of Americans for the past several years.
The proposal, wrote Amash, “Ends authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act” and “Bars the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215.”
Responding to the White House’s remark, Amash wrote on Twitter, “When's the last time a president put out an emergency statement against an amendment? The Washington elites fear liberty. They fear you.”
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