Top senator: Domestic surveillance needs to be ramped up

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says he is shocked at how little information the National Security Agency is collecting through American phone records. He says the American public should be less worried about privacy and should back increased collection as a means of foiling terrorist attacks.

Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said Wednesday that “it’s beyond belief how little data is a part of the program.”

House leaders have reached a bipartisan compromise on a bill that seeks to codify President Barack Obama’s proposal to end the NSA’s collection of domestic calling records, but it would allow the agency to request certain phone records under a court order.

Senate leaders have introduced a bill that would allow the NSA to continue collecting phone records.

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