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The Senate on Tuesday passed Sen. Mike Lee's reform measure aimed at curbing domestic spying after a contentious battle that temporarily halted the National Security Agency (NSA) from collecting telephone data on millions of Americans.
The 67-32 passage of Lee's bill, the USA Freedom Act, backed by President Barack Obama, marks the first time the Utah Republican has had a major impact on national policy.
The bill, which Obama signed Tuesday, will end the NSA's practice of collecting a stream of Americans' telephone metadata — the length, phone numbers and timing of calls, but not the content — and orders the agency to stop gathering the data within six months. Phone companies would still keep the metadata but it would only be accessible to the NSA on a case-by-case basis by court order.
"The American people understand intuitively that it's none of the government's business who they're calling, when they're calling them, who calls them, how long their calls last," Lee said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "The American people intuitively understand what graduate researchers have confirmed, which is that this type of calling data, even just the data itself — not anything having to do with recorded conversations — just the data reveals a lot about an individual, about his or her political preferences, religious views, marital status [and] number of children the person may have."
NSA observers say that changes to the domestic surveillance program will have minimal effect on the agency's Utah Data Center in Bluffdale because the bulk of the information stored there is foreign.
Approval of the measure, already passed by the House, to reform the NSA's actions was a victory for privacy advocates who had raised concerns about government overreach under the guise of national security. But it didn't go far enough for some.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had held up passage of the USA Freedom Act and a short-term extension of part of the now-expired law that allowed the NSA to collect and store the metadata, a move that caused a two-day suspension of the agency's ability to cull the information.
Paul had heralded the expiration, albeit temporary, as the better protection for constitutional rights.
"While some will use fear and intimidation tactics, I believe there is nothing that prevents our intelligence community from continuing to safely guard our nation, while also respecting our Constitution," Paul said in a statement Sunday.
Against the wishes of House GOP leaders, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., attempted to amend the measure Tuesday to give the NSA a full year to comply with the changeover, direct phone companies to alert Congress if they change record-retention policies and to kill a provision to allow privacy advocates to argue against the government's case before a secret court. All three amendments failed.
McConnell — who had fought to simply reauthorize the data collection part of the Patriot Act — said before the vote that changing the law would be a "resounding victory" for former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, whose leaks sparked outrage over the NSA's activities.
"It is also a resounding victory for those who plot to attack our homeland," McConnell said, adding that "It surely undermines American security by taking away one more tool from American war fighters at exactly the wrong time."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, joined McConnell in voting against the measure, having unsuccessfully tried to whip up support for McConnell's amendments during Tuesday's GOP luncheon.
"Our terrorist enemies continue to present a clear and present danger to our nation's safety," said Hatch, who as a former head of the Judiciary Committee after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was a chief architect of the Patriot Act. "We must use a broad array of information-gathering tools to be successful in thwarting their plots and preventing future attacks."
Hatch specifically lamented the passage of the provision that allows privacy advocates to argue against the government in hearings before the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
"Such an approach threatens to insert left-wing activists into an incredibly sensitive and already well-functioning process, a radical move that would stack the deck against our law enforcement and intelligence communities," Hatch warned.
Other lawmakers, of both parties, strongly disagreed, arguing that Americans support reforming the NSA's sweeping information collection, and that the change would have little impact on national security.
Rep. Chris Stewart, a Utah Republican who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, said he was pleased that the Senate passed the House version of the USA Freedom Act without amendments that would have delayed its ultimate passage.
Stewart, a former Air Force major, called the bill a good compromise for security and privacy.
"As a former military guy, I get that national security is a big concern, but this allows us to do both," Stewart said, adding that he doesn't believe mass collection of Americans' phone data is necessary. "I'm a huge believer in the bill."
In a statement Tuesday, Obama praised Lee and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as well as a handful of House leaders, for their "tireless efforts" to pass the legislation.
"After a needless delay and inexcusable lapse in important national security authorities, my administration will work expeditiously to ensure our national security professionals again have the full set of vital tools they need to continue protecting the country," Obama said.
The president added that the measure would strengthen civil liberty safeguards and provide greater public confidence in the government's national security programs.
Earlier Tuesday, Lee had blasted the brinkmanship that had caused the NSA authority to expire, noting that his legislation had been awaiting a vote for more than a year and had bipartisan support.
"Vital national security programs that touch on our fundamental civil liberties deserve a full, open, honest and unrushed debate," Lee said. "This should not be subject to cynical government-by-cliff brinkmanship. If members of Congress, particularly Republican members of Congress, ever want to improve their standing among the American people, then we must abandon this habit of political gamesmanship."
Lee faced tough criticism as one of the chief strategists of the September 2013 plan to tie a vote on funding Obamacare to the budget that led to the 16-day government shutdown.