Congress Passes Bill Granting “Unlimited Access to Communications of Every American”

As reported at Red Flag News August 13th 2013, Barack Obama claimed that Congress knew about the lengths to which the National Security Agency was going in spying on American citizens. He also said they have oversight of the NSA spy programs, saying that they are “subject to congressional oversight and congressional reauthorization and congressional debate.”

Once again another lie. There seems to be no stopping this administration when it comes to the crimes they commit against the constitution and on the American people’s rights.

Why is congress allowing this?

According to Congressman Justin Amash, Congress just passed a bill, (Dec 11th 2014)  which grants the government and law enforcement “unlimited access to the communications of every American”.

When the Michigan lawmaker discovered that the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2015 had been amended with a provision that authorizes “the acquisition, retention, and dissemination” of all communications data from U.S. citizens, he desperately attempted to organize a roll call vote on the bill.

However, the legislation was passed yesterday 325-100 via a voice vote, a green light for what Amash describes as “one of the most egregious sections of law I’ve encountered during my time as a representative”.

The bill allows the private communications of Americans to be scooped up without a court order and then transferred to law enforcement for criminal investigations.

The legislation effectively codifies and legalizes mass warrantless NSA surveillance on the American people, with barely a whimper of debate.

Read the full text of Congressman Amash’s letter below, which was sent out before the bill was passed.

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Dear Colleague:

The intelligence reauthorization bill, which the House will vote on today, contains a troubling new provision that for the first time statutorily authorizes spying on U.S. citizens without legal process.

Last night, the Senate passed an amended version of the intelligence reauthorization bill with a new Sec. 309—one the House never has considered. Sec. 309 authorizes “the acquisition, retention, and dissemination” of nonpublic communications, including those to and from U.S. persons. The section contemplates that those private communications of Americans, obtained without a court order, may be transferred to domestic law enforcement for criminal investigations.

To be clear, Sec. 309 provides the first statutory authority for the acquisition, retention, and dissemination of U.S. persons’ private communications obtained without legal process such as a court order or a subpoena. The administration currently may conduct such surveillance under a claim of executive authority, such as E.O. 12333. However, Congress never has approved of using executive authority in that way to capture and use Americans’ private telephone records, electronic communications, or cloud data.

Supporters of Sec. 309 claim that the provision actually reins in the executive branch’s power to retain Americans’ private communications. It is true that Sec. 309 includes exceedingly weak limits on the executive’s retention of Americans’ communications. With many exceptions, the provision requires the executive to dispose of Americans’ communications within five years of acquiring them—although, as HPSCI admits, the executive branch already follows procedures along these lines.

In exchange for the data retention requirements that the executive already follows, Sec. 309 provides a novel statutory basis for the executive branch’s capture and use of Americans’ private communications. The Senate inserted the provision into the intelligence reauthorization bill late last night. That is no way for Congress to address the sensitive, private information of our constituents—especially when we are asked to expand our government’s surveillance powers.

I urge you to join me in voting “no” on H.R. 4681, the intelligence reauthorization bill, when it comes before the House today.

/s/

Justin Amash

Member of Congress

The NSA Echelon matrix revealed. In this presentation I provide incontrovertible proof of an energetic connection between the NSA Pine Gap base in Australia and its sister site, the Menwith Hill Base in the UK. On the surface they are both considered to be concerned with electronic surveillance and signals intelligence.

Rather than just being involved with wiretapping or alleged domestic spying, it would appear that the Pine Gap and Menwith Hill bases are likely involved in directly tapping into the natural energy fields of the earth, and capable of drawing off immense amounts of power for covert purposes.