Idaho First District Representative Raul Labrador says the protections written into the so-called USA Freedom Act aren’t enough to keep the government from gathering information on American citizens. He wrote an amendment to further define a key term in the law.
Rep. Raul Labrador (R-1CD)
“All it’s doing is attempting to clarify the meaning of a term in the bill; which is an ’emergency situation’, as one that involves the potential for imminent death or bodily harm to any person.”
Labrador told the committee without that clarification, any Attorney General, present or future, would have the ability to declare an emergency situation based on his or her own definition, and use that as authority to start collecting data on Americans.
The amendment failed in committee, and in the end, the USA Freedom Act passed the full House. Idaho Second District Congressman Mike Simpson voted for the bill. It now goes to the Senate.
