One day after the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to end the National Security Agencys bulk collection of U.S. phone records, a second committee has approved the same bill.

The House Intelligence Committee, in closed session, voted to approve the USA Freedom Act Thursday instead of advancing the committees own NSA reform bill. Many privacy groups had criticized the Intelligence Committee bill, called the FISA Transparency and Modernization Act, saying it would have made minimal changes to the NSAs mass collection of U.S. telephone records.

Instead, the Intelligence Committee, by voice vote, approved the USA Freedom Act, which would require the NSA to get case-by-case court approval before collecting the telephone or business records of any U.S. resident.

The FISA Transparency and Modernization Act was among a group of NSA bills that did little to fix the problem of bulk collection, Electronic Frontier Foundation activist Nadia Kayyali wrote in a recent blog post. These bills dont just put lipstick on a pig, she wrote. They actually create new legal authority for NSA spying while providing political cover to its biggest supporters.

The USA Freedom Act, which now heads to the House floor for a vote, would also limit the controversial bulk collection program by allowing the FBI, asking on behalf of the NSA, to request U.S. phone records from carriers only if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the information sought pertains to a foreign power, an agent of a foreign power, or a person in contact with a foreign power.

The House Judiciary Committee approved the USA Freedom Act by a 32-0 vote on Wednesday.

The Intelligence Committee did not consider its own bill during its meeting Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The committees decision to instead approve the USA Freedom Act allows House leaders to avoid choosing between the bills when scheduling a vote on NSA reforms.

The sponsors of the Intelligence Committee bill, Representatives Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, and Dutch Ruppersberger, a Maryland Democrat, said they were pleased with the committees vote on the competing bill.

Enhancing privacy and civil liberties while protecting the operational capability of a critical counterterrorism tool, not pride of authorship, has always been our first and last priority, they said in a joint statement. We are pleased the House Judiciary Committee reached a compromise that garnered strong, bipartisan support.

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the committees vote. This vote is a clear sign that the balance is shifting away from excessive NSA spying and back toward liberty, Laura Murphy, director of the ACLUs Washington Legislative Office, said in a statement. The momentum is on the side of privacy rights and limiting government power, and now the full House can pass a bill that rolls back bulk collection of Americans communications.

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Second House committee approves bill to end NSA bulk collection

IDG News Service - One day after the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of U.S. phone records, a second committee has approved the same bill.

The House Intelligence Committee, in closed session, voted to approve the USA Freedom Act Thursday instead of advancing the committee's own NSA reform bill. Many privacy groups had criticized the Intelligence Committee bill, called the FISA Transparency and Modernization Act, saying it would have made minimal changes to the NSA's mass collection of U.S. telephone records.

Instead, the Intelligence Committee, by voice vote, approved the USA Freedom Act, which would require the NSA to get case-by-case court approval before collecting the telephone or business records of any U.S. resident.

The FISA Transparency and Modernization Act was among a group of NSA bills that did little to fix the problem of bulk collection, Electronic Frontier Foundation activist Nadia Kayyali wrote in a recent blog post. "These bills don't just put lipstick on a pig," she wrote. "They actually create new legal authority for NSA spying while providing political cover to its biggest supporters."

The USA Freedom Act, which now heads to the House floor for a vote, would also limit the controversial bulk collection program by allowing the FBI, asking on behalf of the NSA, to request U.S. phone records from carriers only if there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that the information sought pertains to a foreign power, an agent of a foreign power, or a person in contact with a foreign power.

The House Judiciary Committee approved the USA Freedom Act by a 32-0 vote on Wednesday.

The Intelligence Committee did not consider its own bill during its meeting Thursday, a spokeswoman said. The committee's decision to instead approve the USA Freedom Act allows House leaders to avoid choosing between the bills when scheduling a vote on NSA reforms.

The sponsors of the Intelligence Committee bill, Representatives Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, and Dutch Ruppersberger, a Maryland Democrat, said they were pleased with the committee's vote on the competing bill.

"Enhancing privacy and civil liberties while protecting the operational capability of a critical counterterrorism tool, not pride of authorship, has always been our first and last priority," they said in a joint statement. "We are pleased the House Judiciary Committee reached a compromise that garnered strong, bipartisan support."

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the committee's vote. "This vote is a clear sign that the balance is shifting away from excessive NSA spying and back toward liberty," Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, said in a statement. "The momentum is on the side of privacy rights and limiting government power, and now the full House can pass a bill that rolls back bulk collection of Americans' communications."

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Another U.S. House committee votes to end NSA bulk collection

Published: 8:15AM Friday May 09, 2014 Source: AP

German lawmakers agreed today to ask NSA leaker Edward Snowden to testify in their inquiry into surveillance of chancellor Angela Merkel by the US National Security Agency.

Snowden's documents showing that the NSA targeted Merkel's cellphone caused an uproar in Germany. That prompted the chancellor's governing coalition and opposition lawmakers in March to establish a parliamentary committee to investigate the scope of NSA spying in Germany.

The committee decided unanimously to invite Snowden to testify, the German news agency dpa reported. But lawmakers were unable to agree on whether Snowden should attend in person - as is usual for witnesses - or whether he could be questioned in Russia, where he has been granted temporary asylum.

Opposition parties insist Snowden should be brought to Berlin because he is a key witness. The government coalition is split on the issue, with Merkel's conservative bloc opposed to letting him into the country. The center-left Social Democrats, also members of the coalition, said all options remain open.

The final decision is likely to rest with Snowden himself, although German authorities could block him from entering since he doesn't have a valid US passport.

The German government warned last week that inviting Snowden to appear before parliament in person could harm Germany's relations with the United States.

The head of Germany's domestic security service said that current cooperation with US intelligence agencies was good. Hans-Georg Maassen, head of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, told reporters that regardless of where Snowden is questioned, he would be unlikely to shed much light on the NSA's espionage activities in Germany.

"I can't imagine that he, in his function as a data administrator ... would be able to tell us very much about the content" of the files he leaked, Maassen said.

Among other witnesses who will be invited to testify before the inquiry are Merkel, her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, current and former German foreign ministers as well as former NSA employee William Binney and former US Air Force drone operator Brandon Bryant, dpa reported.

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Snowden invited to testify in German enquiry