Lawmakers introduce bill to reform controversial surveillance authorities | TheHill – The Hill

A group of privacy-focused lawmakers on Thursday introducedlegislation to reform a set of controversialsurveillance authorities set to expire in March,setting up ambitious goalposts in the upcoming battle overwhether Congress shouldpare down the government's ability to spy on people in the U.S.

Thebill, from a bipartisan and bicameral coalition, wouldnarrow down the kinds of information the government is allowed to collect without a warrant and officiallyshut down its ability to collectphone records on millions of Americans.

And it wouldreform a secretive court that President TrumpDonald John TrumpMnuchin knocks Greta Thunberg's activism: Study economics and then 'come back' to us The Hill's Morning Report - House prosecutes Trump as 'lawless,' 'corrupt' What to watch for on Day 3 of Senate impeachment trial MORE and Republican allies have bitterly criticized in the wake of a critical inspector general report last year.

The Safeguarding Americans Private Records Act seeks to capitalize on a wave of renewed bipartisan interest in theForeign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA court), an instrumental part of the country's intelligence-gathering and national security operations.

Liberty and security arent mutually exclusive, and they arent partisan either, Sen.Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenRestlessness, light rule-breaking and milk spotted on Senate floor as impeachment trial rolls on Hillicon Valley Presented by Philip Morris International UN calls for probe into alleged Saudi hack of Bezos | Experts see effort to 'silence' Washington Post | Bezos tweets tribute to Khashoggi Bezos tweets tribute to Khashoggi in wake of reports of Saudi phone hacking MORE (D-Ore.), who has long called for surveillance reform,said in a statement. Im proud our bipartisan coalition is standing up for Americans rights and commonsense reforms to protect our people against unnecessary government surveillance."

The bill was introduced by Wyden and Sen. Steve DainesSteven (Steve) David DainesKoch network could target almost 200 races in 2020, official says GOP senators introduce resolution to change rules, dismiss impeachment without articles Congress to clash over Trump's war powers MORE (R-Mont.) in the upper chamber, with a companion introduced by longtime privacy hawk Rep. Zoe LofgrenZoe Ellen LofgrenDemocrats begin to present case for Trump impeachment to Senate GOP rejects effort to compel documents on delayed Ukraine aid White House appoints GOP House members to advise Trump's impeachment team MORE (D-Calif.) and progressive leader Rep. Pramila JayapalPramila JayapalSanders wants one-on-one fight with Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Trump trial begins with clash over rules Jayapal: 'We will end up with another Donald Trump' if the US doesn't elect a progressive MORE (D-Wash.).

It sets the stage fora bipartisan coalition between Trump allies, who have criticized the FISA court as part of a deeply political battle over whether the FBI exhibited bias against Trump, and progressives who want to reform government surveillance authorities.

The legislation would permanently end the phone records program disclosed by whistleblower Edward Snowden, which shuttered last year amid technical difficulties.It would also officially prohibit intelligence agencies from collecting geolocation information without a warrant.

Significantly, it would ensure independent attorneys have access to the proceedings of the FISA court.

The government filed 1,117 warrant applications to the FISA court last year, including 1,081 that requested electronic surveillance.

Congressis facing a mid-March deadline to extend three expiring surveillance authorities.

"The surveillance capabilities intended to keep us safe from foreign threats have all too often trampled on Americans Fourth Amendment rights to due process," Josh Withrow, a senior policy analyst for conservative group FreedomWorks, said in a statement. "The Safeguarding Americans Private Records Act would be an enormous step forward in securing those rights."

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Lawmakers introduce bill to reform controversial surveillance authorities | TheHill - The Hill