Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday accused President Obama of going soft on terrorism in a searing floor speech delivered after Senate lawmakers rejected McConnell’s efforts to strengthen a federal surveillance bill.
“It remains my opinion that this bill is part of a pattern going back to a time when the president took office, to pull back,” McConnell, R-Ky., said, referencing Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo that critics said questioned American exceptionalism.
McConnell delivered the barbs at Obama moments after lawmakers rejected three amendments that McConnell sponsored, which were aimed at strengthening the National Security Agency’s ability to use surveillance tactics to thwart domestic terrorism.
Related: Senate bucks McConnell, passes House spy bill 67-32
The underlying legislation, the USA Freedom Act, would reform federal surveillance by ending all bulk data collection by the NSA and instead require the government to use warrants to obtain the data from telecommunications companies.
McConnell said his amendments would help ensure the surveillance program could continue to operate effectively.
When the legislation passed 67-32 without the amendments, it was a resounding rejection for McConnell, who drew up the provisions after senators rejected his bill to extend the surveillance law without any reforms.
His voice growing emotional, McConnell denounced the USA Freedom Act just before the final vote, saying it “does not enhance the privacy protections of American citizens and it surely undermines American security by taking one more tool from our war fighters at exactly the wrong time.”
He pointed to a CNN poll that found 61 percent of respondents agreed that the current law should be extended “as is,” as McConnell had wanted.
“So, if there is widespread concern across America about privacy,” McConnell said. “We’re not picking it up. They’re not reporting it to CNN.”
McConnell at times appeared to be chastising his own Senate and the GOP-led House, which passed the USA Freedom Act last month by an overwhelming vote.
But he tied it all to Obama, who he said came to the Oval Office determined to make good on campaign trail pledges, including one to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“The determined effort to fulfill campaign promises by the president back in 2008 reflects an inability to adapt to the current threat that we have right now,” McConnell said.
McConnell’s frequent floor sparring partner, Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., did not let McConnell’s criticisms go unchallenged.
Reid delivered an equally critical rebuttal aimed at McConnell, who he said is responsible for the surveillance law lapsing on Sunday by managing the floor schedule poorly and running out of time to deal with the divisive surveillance bill.
“If he is concerned about national security he should look in the mirror,” Reid said.
McConnell punched back, telling Reid, who lost the majority in November, “you don’t get to set the schedule anymore and my observations about the president’s foreign policy are directly related to the vote we are about to take.”
