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Oregon Congressman Kurt Schrader (OR-5) on FISA Bill (S. 139)
Congressman Schrader voted against S. 139, FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017, which allows the federal government to continue to collect and store vast amounts of communications without including proper civil rights reforms to protect American citizens.
“My priority in Congress is ensuring that we strike the right balance between keeping our country safe and protecting our right to privacy,” said Rep. Schrader. “This bill tilts the scale too far, crossing the line of personal privacy without a clear or evident increase to our security. Any program that infringes on our civil and private liberties, with little to no transparency, is not a balance at all.”
Congressman Schrader voted for the Amash-Lofgren substitute amendment which would have substituted the entire bill for the bipartisan and bicameral USA Rights Act (HR4124). The amendment failed while the final bill passed.
Following controversial revelations in 2013 over the United States National Security Agency (NSA) program called PRISM, Congressman Schrader sent a letter to then President Barack Obama raising questions about privacy concerns for U.S. citizens. Read the letter here. [6]