Here’s what is going on.

Following the filing of the Amash-Conyers Amendment, an amendment designed to defund the  NSA’s Section 215 “dragnet collection,” NSA’s Clapper and Alexander headed to the Hill to hold yet again, another round of “Top Secret” briefings with members of congress.  Their goal – to kill the amendment per their bosses order. 

Here is what the amendment does according to a fact sheet released this morning –

The amendment has three important practical effects.  First, it ends the mass surveillance of Americans.  The government no longer is authorized under Sec. 215 to hold a pool of metadata on every phone call of every American.  Second, the amendment permits the government to continue to acquire business records and other “tangible things” that are actually related to an authorized counterterrorism investigation.  The government still has access to this tool under the amendment, but it’s forced to comply with the intent of Congress when it passed Sec. 215.  Third, the amendment imposes more robust judicial oversight of NSA’s surveillance.  The FISA court will be involved every time NSA searches Americans’ records, and the court will have a substantive, statutory standard to apply to make sure the NSA does not violate Americans’ civil liberties.

Also, co-patron to the amendment, Rep. John Conyers, released the following statement –

“It is unfortunate that so much of Congress and the media’s focus is on the whereabouts of Edward Snowden. We should focus our time and attention on ensuring that law-abiding Americans are not unnecessarily subject to intrusive surveillance; making sure our media organizations are not targeted merely for informing the public; closing Guantanamo and releasing those individuals who pose us no harm; and demanding that legal safeguards are in place with respect to our government’s shortsighted use of drones. These are the overriding, critical issues facing the Congress, not the whereabouts or motives of Edward Snowden,” said Conyers.

“Revelations over the last several weeks by Edward Snowden and others make clear that our nation is at a crossroads. The so-called ‘War on Terror’ exerts severe and undue pressure on our privacy, due process, and respect for a free press. Congress must choose how to respond, not to Edward Snowden, but to the strain that this never-ending war has placed on our principles and our laws.”

Every American who cherishes their Fourth Amendment protection to privacy needs to get on their phones now and call their representatives to tell them to vote Yes on the Amash-Conyers Amendment. Here’s a directory – find your congressmen/women and call them now!