June 01--The debate over curtailing the government's sweeping anti-terrorism surveillance powers would have played out differently if the post-9/11 era had ended with, say, Osama bin Laden's death.
If al-Qaida were gone, if Islamic State didn't exist, then yes, most people would agree: Shut down the National Security Agency's unlimited ability to vacuum up and store information on the telephone calls made by Americans. It was an extraordinary wartime infringement on privacy and civil liberty, one no longer needed.
But well-organized people bent on terrorism are still focused on the U.S. And the country is at greater risk because the plug has been pulled temporarily on the collection of metadata -- meaning the records of calls, not the actual content.
You might blame Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky for this national security lapse. He held up Senate action to save provisions of the Patriot Act that expired Sunday night. Paul, running for president, filibustered, protested and campaigned as the deadline approached. His bid to raise campaign cash linked to this maneuvering is crass.
More responsibility, though, goes to Paul's Kentucky colleague, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader. McConnell had the opportunity to swat Paul aside and forge a legislative compromise weeks ago. The intent of the House on a Patriot Act revision was clear. McConnell gambled on brinkmanship and a bid to keep the metadata collection program going without change. Even as it was clear those efforts would fail, McConnell let the Senate adjourn for a week.
And then ... the clock ran out.
By the time senators got back to the Capitol on Sunday night, the best McConnell could muster was an agreement to vote sometime this week on the House's version of the bill, the USA Freedom Act, which permits a more restricted surveillance program. In the meantime, the program's been shut down.
The House measure would not permit the NSA to collect and store metadata. Those records would be housed by phone companies. Federal agents could gain access to the records via an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. In case of an emergency, authorities would not need a FISC order. That strikes us as unnecessarily cumbersome, but lawmakers who are strong on national security issues say it can be managed.
The bill also would extend Patriot Act provisions that make it easier for federal authorities to track foreign terrorism suspects in the U.S. who act alone or who use more than one communications device.
The Senate can take up the House version as soon as Tuesday, though it might debate some amendments. One issue is the length of transition to the new rules on metadata: the House bill says six months, but some senators want 18 months or two years. Any changes by the Senate would reopen the bill to House debate.
The time to maneuver is over. The Senate should pass the House bill and be done with it.
