Labrador Statement in Opposition to USA FREEDOM Act

Statement

Rep. Raúl Labrador, R-Idaho, issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 2048, the USA FREEDOM Act:

"In spite of the efforts of Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Subcommittee Chair Jim Sensenbrenner, the USA FREEDOM Act still fails to prevent the government from accessing Americans' private information.

"H.R. 2048 reforms and extends Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. That is the soon-to-expire law the government has used to justify gaining unlimited access to the private telephone records of American citizens. I have always argued that the Patriot Act did not allow such data collection and the government's actions were illegal. Last week, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that Section 215 doesn't permit bulk data collection.

"While supporters of H.R. 2048 claimed that it made necessary reforms to protect privacy and security, the changes did not sufficiently protect Americans' civil liberties. I offered amendments to strengthen civil liberties protections in the Judiciary Committee, but they were rejected. Later, the Rules Committee refused to consider these amendments on the House floor.

"Ultimately, I could not support the bill in its current form. Now, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to continue fighting for privacy rights and national security when they take up the bill in the coming days."

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