Despite Orlando, Senate will not expand FBI surveillance powers
UPDATED: 3:30 pm Wednesday
A bill expanding the FBI鈥檚 ability to monitor telecommunications records without a warrant failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday, in what was seen as聽a victory for civil libertarians and privacy advocates.
The legislation, filed as an amendment to a criminal justice funding bill, would have broadened the list of records the FBI can request from phone and Internet companies using National Security Letters, which do not require judicial approval and are often accompanied by a gag order mandating secrecy on the part of the recipient. Civil libertarians and electronic-freedom groups have . On Tuesday, the ACLU sent a letter to lawmakers calling on them to vote against an expansion of
The Senate rejected the amendment 58-38, two votes short of the 60 necessary to move ahead with the bill.
Currently, the FBI can use the letters to force a company to hand over users鈥� phone billing records. The proposal would allow the agency access to records such as the senders and recipients of emails and corresponding timestamps, as well as internet browsing histories.
The bill highlights law enforcement鈥檚 struggle to adapt to what they describe as terrorism鈥檚 changing nature. In 2010, notes Laurent Belsie of the 海角大神 Science Monitor, then-Attorney General Eric Holder lamented that the threat 鈥渉as changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States.鈥�
鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 worry about this even two years ago 鈥� about individuals, about Americans, to the extent that we now do,鈥� said Mr. Holder then.
Since the 9/11 attacks, some terrorist groups have also changed their preferred strategy, wrote Brookings Institute terrorism expert William McCants in an email to the Monitor last week.
鈥淭hey, like many other terrorists, used to be fixated on building bombs. But they鈥檝e learned that mass shootings are easier to organize without detection and generate just as much media attention. ISIS has been exceptionally good at inspiring young men to carry out these attacks in its name.鈥�
On Tuesday, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who serves as the second-highest-ranking Republican in the chamber, said the bill would 鈥渁llow the FBI to collect the dots so they can connect the dots, and that's been the biggest problem that they've had in identifying these homegrown, radicalized terrorists.鈥�
Wednesday vote, while close, underscored a reluctance by lawmakers to introduce new expansions of surveillance since the breadth of the National Security Agency鈥檚 spying capabilities were revealed in leaked information from former contractor Edward Snowden. 聽
This report contains material from Reuters.
