The debate in Washington over the renewal of Patriot Act provisions that allow phone-record snooping has political ramifications, as well as constitutional ones.
By June 1, Congress must pass new provisions that allow for the collection of phone “metadata” under the Patriot Act, propose an alternative or let the provisions lapse, shutting down part of the huge surveillance operation.
Some people think a shutdown of the Section 215 provisions of the Patriot Act would be the right thing to do under the Constitution, while others see it as a huge security threat. The House is behind a compromise called the USA Freedom Act that would move data housing back to the private sector, but would allow the NSA to access data under certain circumstances.
So what do the announced and presumptive presidential candidates think? Here is a quick review of their recent comments.
The Democrats
Hillary Clinton. The Democratic front runner has endorsed the USA Freedom Act expected to clear the House with bipartisan support. “Congress should move ahead now with the USA Freedom Act — a good step forward in ongoing efforts to protect our security & civil liberties,” Clinton said on Twitter last Thursday. The Obama administration also has endorsed the act.
Bernie Sanders. The Senator is publicly against the re-authorization of the current Patriot Act in the Senate as promoted by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. It’s not clear how he would vote if the USA Freedom Act were introduced on the Senate floor. But Sanders is on record as supporting strong constitutional safeguards against surveillance.
The Republicans
Jeb Bush. The former Florida Governor said in April that he supports the general surveillance efforts of the NSA, “The first obligation of our national government is to keep us safe,” Bush said in an interview on “The Michael Medved Show.” “And the technology that now can be applied to make that so, while protecting civil liberties, are there and (Obama’s) not abandoned them even though there was some indication that he might.”
Chris Christie. The New Jersey Governor wants the Patriot Act renewed in Congress. “I believe there can be appropriate oversight by Congress and we have people in the Justice Department who can oversee whether the law is being followed or if the law is being violated,” he said last week in New Hampshire.
Ted Cruz. The Texas Senator supports the USA Freedom Act as a co-sponsor. "Congress should immediately pass the USA FREEDOM Act, of which I am a proud cosponsor, to strike the right balance between privacy rights and national security interests,” he said last week.
Mike Huckabee. In prior Facebook posts Huckabee seemed to support the NSA, but in a recent interview, the former Arkansas Governor wanted national security efforts focused on ISIS. “And instead of spending a gazillion dollars looking at everybody’s metadata of phone records and email, we really need to be concentrating on those people who have been tweeting out threatening comments, people who ought to give us some real concern,” he told CBS News.
Rand Paul. An open critic of the Patriot Act, Paul has threatened to filibuster the act if it comes to the floor for re-authorization. “I’m going to lead the charge in the next couple of weeks as the Patriot Act comes forward,” he told the Union Leader. “We will be filibustering. We will be trying to stop it. We are not going to let them run over us. And we are going to demand amendments and we are going to make sure the American people know that some of us at least are opposed to unlawful searches.”
Marco Rubio. The Florida Senator has endorsed an extension of the current Patriot Act. “The government is not listening to your phone calls or recording them unless you are a terrorist or talking to a terrorist outside the United States,” Rubio said in a recent op-ed. “There is not a single documented case of abuse of this program.”
Scott Walker. The Wisconsin Governor has said little on the issue.
