In the shadows of the Senate vote on the Keystone Pipeline, a less reported defeat took place.
The vote was 58-42 — all of the “no” votes came from Republicans.
It was a bipartisan bill aimed at reining in the authority of the National Security Agency to collect bulk phone data from millions of Americans.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that while the bill (proposed by a Democrat) may not be perfect, the Senate should have supported it to allow possible amendments to be considered.
“This legislation protects the constitutional rights of privacy under the Fourth Amendment while maintaining important tools to protection national security and law enforcement,” Cruz said. “This is bipartisan legislation that enjoys support of the intelligence community, and also the tech community. “It is imperative that we stand together united in protecting the Bill of Rights”.
Most Republicans disagreed with Senator Cruz.
Republicans complained loudly during the campaign season about the horrible “gridlock” in the Senate. With nine more Republican votes in the “new” Senate, it is clear that the prospects of freedom-minded legislation regarding the NSA surveillance program will only be locked up tighter in an even stronger Republican gridlock.
***Gordon Howie is an author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
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