海角大神

The surveillance reform standoff is sparking a feeling of d茅j脿 vu听on Capitol Hill.

Especially for California Democrat听Rep. Adam Schiff.

Last November, just after Senate Republicans blocked the USA Freedom Act 鈥� a bill that would have effectively ended the National Security Agency鈥檚 bulk collection of call records 鈥� Representative Schiff took a tough stand with the NSA chief during a House Intelligence Committee hearing.

鈥淭here's no reason, if you think that this is the correct policy, that you have to wait for the Congress to mandate you to do it,鈥� at the time. 鈥淵ou don't have to wait for the USA Freedom Act. There is no statutory mandate of any kind for the government to collect bulk metadata."

Now, months later, Congress is again at a standoff over a new version of the USA Freedom Act, which, once again, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed. And, just like last time,听the White House says it supports this surveillance reform bill, but many Senate Republicans 鈥� including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is now chamber's majority leader 鈥� are calling for听an extension of the program in the name of national security.听

This time, the pressure's on: Lawmakers have four days before congressional recess, and听Section 215, the Patriot Act provision the intelligence agency uses to justify metadata collection,听expires June 1.

But Schiff听has a new position since last year's debate:听He's now the听top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, making him one of the key members of Congress overseeing the intelligence community.

And, if Senator McConnell gets his way again, Schiff says, it鈥檚 finally time for the Obama administration to take action: It should, he says, shut down the program unilaterally.

鈥淚 think they should end the program, and find an alternate means to get the information,鈥� he told Passcode after a breakfast with reporters hosted by 海角大神 on Tuesday.

The Obama administration, Schiff said, has insisted it needs special legal authorities from Congress to end the surveillance program, and has voiced concerns about "the telecommunications companies鈥� willingness鈥� to comply without them. The USA Freedom Act would end the government鈥檚 bulk collection and storage of information, and instead leave the call data with the companies to be accessed with a court warrant.

But Schiff says the Obama administration has still not made a persuasive case that congressional legislation is absolutely necessary for the government to end the controversial program exposed by Edward Snowden nearly two years ago. What鈥檚 more, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent oversight board within the executive branch that investigated the NSA鈥檚 surveillance and judged it to be ineffective, has also President Obama can end the program at any time of his choosing 鈥� and should. So, Schiff says, if reform efforts fail on the Hill, "That's where they should go."听

With just days left on the clock, the intelligence community is facing the very real possibility Section 215 and two other Patriot Act provisions could lapse. If this happens, the bulk collection of call records program would be forced to come to an end, but as Schiff said at the breakfast, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 going, going, gone anyway.鈥� Still, he notes the intelligence agency would be left scrambling to find other legal authorities to get data it needs for other core missions. 鈥淥f all the outcomes," he says, "that's the least desirable.鈥�

Even so, if this happens, Schiff says administration officials can鈥檛 simply blame congressional intransigence.

鈥淚f we reach an impasse, and the authority sunsets, the NSA will have some responsibility for that breach,鈥� Schiff said. He has long urged the intelligence community听to develop alternative means of accessing the data it needs outside the bulk collection program, or even a bill that mandates this process. If the intelligence community had acted on this, he said, they would be able to prove they are capable of the reforms on a technical and logistical level.听

鈥淪ome of my colleagues in the Senate are now... questioning whether we can do this technologically," Schiff said. "Well, had the NSA started this a year ago, they'd be able to say, 'Not only can we do this, but we're ready to do this the day you pass this bill.'听

"I do feel some frustration that the NSA hasn鈥檛 moved on this," Schiff continued. "I do think the NSA bears some responsibility here for not making this a priority.鈥�

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