White House urges Senate to approve NSA reform bill

The White House on Monday urged the Senate to pass a bipartisan bill to reform the National Security Agency’s bulk data collection program without changes, saying it’s critical for national security to act as quick as possible. 

“Bottom line, we would like to see the Senate pass this bill as soon as possible,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest, who urged the Senate not to amend the legislation.

{mosads}The spokesman said senators have had 18 months to tinker with the legislation, but they have “blown through” their deadline. 

Passing amendments “is a privilege and a right. For the good of the country, they should relinquish,” Earnest said.

The reform bill, known as the USA Freedom Act, was approved by the House last month in a 338-88 vote. It would effectively end the NSA’s current records collection program, which gobbled up Americans’ phone data in bulk. It would force the agency to ask phone companies for a specific set of records related to an investigation. 

The Senate advanced the NSA reform bill Sunday night, but not before provisions of the Patriot Act — including language authorizing the data collection — expired.

If the upper chamber amends the bill, the House would have to vote on the measure again before it can be sent to Obama’s desk.

Earnest singled out one amendment proposed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), which would extend the transition of the metadata program from six months to a year, as “completely unnecessary.” 

The legislation was the result of careful negotiations between Democrats, Republicans, and national security officials, and making substantive changes “does put the agreement at some risk” in the House, Earnest said. 

— This story was updated at 2:02 p.m.