House presses Senate to pass domestic surveillance changes
May 21, 2015, 11:00 AM
In this image from Senate video, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and a Republican presidential contender, speaks on the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday afternoon, May 20, 2015, at the Capitol in Washington, during a long speech opposing renewal of the Patriot Act. Paul claimed he was filibustering, but under the Senate rules, he wasn't. (Senate TV via AP)
(Senate TV via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — House leaders are pressing the Senate to take up a bill that ends the National Security Agency’s collection of American telephone records but preserves other surveillance powers.
Senators are divided, and time is running out before three significant counterterrorism provisions expire June 1.
House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi want the Senate to take up the USA Freedom Act, which the House passed last week by a 338-88 vote.
The bill would end the NSA’s collection and storage of domestic calling records and renew two unrelated surveillance powers commonly used by the FBI to track spies and terrorists.
The House has finished it business for the week, and if the Senate doesn’t act, the surveillance provisions are set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on June 1.
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