By webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News) The U.S. Senate has blocked a House of Representatives bill that would have ended the bulk collection of domestic telephone data by the National Security Agency.
The Senate voted 57- 42 against the bill early Saturday, shortly after midnight. Sixty votes were needed to move ahead with the legislation that was overwhelmingly approved by the House last week.
The legislation, known as the USA Freedom Act, passed in the House by a vote of 338 to 88.
Instead of the bulk collection of domestic phone records, including the date, time and duration of phone calls, the House bill required the NSA to obtain the records from private phone companies after getting a court order from a secret national security court.
The massive data collection program came under fire from advocates of civil liberties after former contractor Edward Snowden disclosed it to journalists in 2013.
The House bill received strong support from both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans, as well as President Barack Obama.
The measure was strongly opposed in the Senate by majority leader Mitch McConnell.
The NSA bulk telephone collection program was authorized under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed in the days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S. A federal appeals court in New York earlier this month ruled the NSA bulk collection program was illegal, but refused to issue an injunction against the agency.
The section of the USA Patriot Act that authorized the NSA program is due to expire on June 1. The Senate vote early Saturday leaves the fate of key provisions of the act in limbo. However, McConnell said after the vote, the Senate would return from its recess on May 31 – a day early – to consider ways to prevent the loss of key provisions in the Patriot Act.
US Senate Blocks House Bill on Domestic Surveillance
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