Letter of Support for the USA Freedom Act (Senate)

Dear FreedomWorks member, 

As one of our millions of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and urge them to cosponsor S. 1599, the USA Freedom Act. Introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the bill would curb the excessive powers of the National Security Agency (NSA). Americans of all political persuasions are outraged that the NSA has been unconstitutionally spying on the everyday activities of innocent U.S. citizens. The bipartisan USA Freedom Act is a step in the right direction to increase government transparency and protect the privacy of Americans. 

In the chaotic aftermath of 9/11, Congress rushed through the Patriot Act to grant the government more surveillance powers. Original authors of the Patriot Act now argue that the NSA has overstepped its authority. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner says that the legislation was not supposed to allow Congress “to permit the NSA’s collection of the records of every telephone call made to, from and within the United States.” 

The USA Freedom Act would tighten section 215 of the Patriot Act to limit the bulk collection of records on Americans. It would require the NSA to convince FISA courts that a target is “an agent of a foreign power,” was “subject of an investigation” or thought to be “in contact with an agent of a foreign power.” While FreedomWorks still maintains that the Patriot Act should be fully repealed, we support any efforts to limit the NSA’s ability to collect data on Americans. 

The USA Freedom Act would also increase government transparency and limit the number of records shared with third parties. It would allow companies to report how many requests they get from government to share information, mandate the government publish how many people are subject to surveillance orders, and reveal secret significant FISA Court opinions to the public. 

The NSA’s unconstitutional surveillance must be stopped to safeguard our civil liberties. I urge you to contact your senators and urge them to cosponsor the USA Freedom Act today. 

Sincerely, 

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks
[Click here for the PDF version of this letter.]