General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This message was self-deleted by its author [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)The USA Freedom Act is a bill originally introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress on October 29, 2013. The title of the act is a ten-letter backronym (USA FREEDOM) that stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection and Online Monitoring Act."
The bill was re-introduced in the 114th Congress, receiving support for acting as "a balanced approach"[3] while being questioned for amendments and extending the Patriot Act through the end of 2019.[4] Supporters of the bill say the most the House Intelligence Committee and House leadership[5] would allow is ending bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act[6] until Section 702 of FISA comes up for review at the end of 2017. Critics assert that mass surveillance of the content of Americans' communication will continue under Section 702 of FISA[7][8] and Executive Order 12333[7][9] due to the "unstoppable surveillance-industrial complex"[10] despite the fact that a bipartisan majority of the House had previously voted to close backdoor mass surveillance.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Freedom_Act