Is The NSA Surveillance Policy In Jeopardy?

House To Debate NSA Surveillance. Is The Policy In Jeopardy? -- Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor

A defense bill amendment authored by Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan would end funding for the NSA surveillance program. The White House has mobilized to defeat the measure.

The National Security Agency’s massive database of the telephone call records of ordinary Americans, collected to help hunt terrorists, is slated to be the subject of debate on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday, the first discussion of its kind since top secret documents on the program were leaked to the press last month.

The focus of the floor debate will be an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that would, if passed, halt funding for the NSA’s so-called telephony metadata program. Authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the top secret program has collected about six years’ worth of data records on billions of Americans’ phone-calls, leaked documents suggest.

The amendment, dubbed the “Amash Amendment,” is authored by Rep. Justin Amash (R) of Michigan and cosponsored by former Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers, also of Michigan, with 32 co-signers from both parties.

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My Comment: I will be surprised if the NSA surveillance policy is restricted and/or limited. Most Democrats are not going to cross the White House, and there are more than enough Republicans who believe that the program should continue. There will probably be some additional oversight .... and maybe a timetable for future review .... and that's about it.

Update: As I had predicted .... House rejects bid to curb U.S. spy agency's data-gathering program.