The House voted 293 to 123 late Thursday to approve amendments to a Defense appropriations bill (H.R. 4670) that would defund warrantless searches of NSA-collected communications and prevent the NSA and CIA from requiring products to have "back doors" that allow them to more easily conduct searches.
The underlying bill has not yet been voted at press time, though it is must-pass legislation.
Bill co-sponsor Rep. Zoe Lofgren (pictured) (D-Calif.) tweeted that it was a "big step" toward shutting the back door on unwarranted surveillance. The other co-sponsors were Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.).
“There’s no question Americans have become increasingly alarmed with the breadth of unwarranted government surveillance programs used to store and search their private data,” they said in a joint statement.
Demand Progress, which backed the amendment and seeks stronger spying protections that were contained in the House-passed USA Freedom Act, agrees. “This amendment makes a significant stride towards addressing out of control NSA spying and helps restore trust in the Internet and American products,” said David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress, in a statement.
