Many of the usual suspects are lining up behind legislation that would keep bulk surveillance going for another year, but that probably will not do much to improve its prospects.
Three Republican senators signed up on Wednesday to co-sponsor legislation from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., that would extend the metadata collection program authorized under the Patriot Act: Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Cotton thanked them in a message on Twitter, in addition to Sen. Richard Burr, N.C., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who he said would also serve as co-sponsors.
All of the sponsors except for one, Cornyn, voted unsuccessfully in June to keep the National Security Agency’s surveillance program alive, when the USA Freedom Act passed the Senate 67-32. That legislation set the program to expire on Nov. 29, at which time federal agencies will need to ask for the data from private companies only in targeted circumstances.
Thanks to @SenateMajLdr @JohnCornyn @SenPatRoberts @SenRubioPress @SenatorBurr for co-sponsoring the Liberty Through Strength Act
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) November 19, 2015
The “Liberty Through Strength Act,” proposed by Cotton on Monday, would extend the bulk surveillance program “until the president can certify that the new NSA collection system is as effective as the current system,” or January 2017.
The NSA assumed authority for its data collection program under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, passed in 2001. However, the program was made public only after being exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013.
In spite of the momentum Cotton has achieved in rounding up co-sponsors who were mostly already on his side, passing the legislation before the program expires in nine days will be an uphill battle. The mandate to end it passed the House 338-88.
Additionally, national conservative champions have opposed mass data collection. Of Rubio’s colleagues in the presidential race, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, voted in favor of the bill to renovate the program, while Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against it, because he believes even the replacement will go too far. Rubio ranks first in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings, while Cruz ranks second, and Paul ranks eighth.
In spite of the program’s dim prospects for renewal, Rubio has been looking to use the debate to score political points against his opponents, particularly Cruz. On Wednesday, Rubio said during a radio interview that Cruz “was part of that coalition that worked with the Democrats … and the ACLU, to harm our intelligence programs.”
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2576670
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was the Senate’s sole abstention in the June vote. He said he was in New Hampshire, but that he would have voted in favor of keeping the old program. Graham ranks 13th in the Examiner’s rankings.
