Action Congress
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the USA FREEDOM Act, a bipartisan bill to reform the controversial domestic surveillance programs. The passage of this legislation is the result of strong bipartisan negotiations to strike a balance in order to protect American citizens’ rights without dealing a blow to lawful and warranted surveillance efforts. Mr. Speaker, Congress did not intend for any law to authorize the indiscriminate collection of personal information from Americans. The USA FREEDOM Act will help end government overreach, while ensuring intelligence agencies have the tools at their disposal to lawfully pursue suspected terrorists in efforts to protect all Americans. As a member of the bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, I applaud the Judiciary Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for working together to write a bill that strikes a balance to protect our constitutional rights without compromising our national security. —Glenn Thompson, U.S. Representative (R) from Pennsylvania, May 14, 2015 Source: Congress.gov
A. Describe an action Congress could take to address the issues outlined in the excerpt.
B. In the context of this excerpt, explain how the use of congressional power described in part A can be affected by its interaction with the president.
C. In the context of this excerpt, explain how the interaction between Congress and the presidency explained in part B can be affected by linkage institutions.
Sample Solution
In response to the issues outlined in the excerpt, Congress could take further action to ensure that citizens’ rights are adequately protected from government overreach. Specifically, this could involve introducing more stringent measures for implementing a system of checks and balances when it comes to surveillance programs. This would include ensuring data collected is only used for legitimate purposes, and can be tracked by both federal agencies and private entities in order to ensure its accuracy. Additionally they should also consider introducing legislation which would require any new surveillance technology purchased by government agencies to have its effectiveness reviewed and approved by independent third-party experts before being deployed into use.
Furthermore, Congress should consider providing additional protections for those individuals who end up having their personal information collected during these programs – such as requiring notification when data has been accessed or shared with other parties or giving those affected the right to challenge the legality of any warrants issued against them. Additionally, they may also wish to create an oversight committee comprised of members from outside the intelligence community which could review warrant application requests annually; this would help reduce potential abuses as well as provide greater transparency when it comes to how these programs operate.
Overall, Congress taking further steps towards increasing oversight and accountability regarding domestic surveillance program operations will go a long way towards protecting American citizens’ rights while still allowing intelligence agencies access necessary tools needed for law enforcement efforts.
