NSA Surveillance of Phone Records. During consideration of the defense appropriations bill (H.R. 2397), Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) offered an amendment to end the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act. Amash\’s amendment would also prevent the NSA and other agencies from using provisions of the Patriot Act to collect records, including phone records, from persons who are not subject to an investigation. As Rep. Amash noted during the debate on his amendment, \”My amendment … limits the government\’s collection of the records to those records that pertain to a person who is the subject of an investigation pursuant to section 215 [of the Patriot Act].\”
The House rejected Amash\’s amendment on July 24, 2013 by a vote of 205 to 217 (Roll Call 412). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because any effort to limit the collection of Americans\’ personal information by the surveillance state is a good thing. Blanket collection of electronic records of citizens who are not under investigation is a violation of the Fourth Amendment\’s prohibition on search and seizure without a warrant.
