{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/supporters-amp-up-pressure-for-senate-to-take-up-and-pass-historic-nsa-reform-ahead-of-key-vote-tuesday", "Supporters Amp Up Pressure For Senate To Take Up & Pass Historic NSA Reform Ahead Of Key Vote Tuesday", "2014-11-17", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.17.14\n\t\t\t Supporters Amp Up Pressure For Senate To Take Up & Pass Historic NSA Reform Ahead Of Key Vote Tuesday \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON (Monday, November 17, 2014) \u2013 Supporters of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2014 continued urging Senators to take up and pass the legislation, which faces a critical procedural vote on Tuesday.\r\nAn unprecedented coalition of the nation\u2019s leading technology companies sent an open letter to the Senate on Monday declaring that \u201cNow is the time to move forward on meaningful change to our surveillance programs.\u201d The letter was signed by AOL, Apple, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and Yahoo!.\r\nThe American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association joined together over the weekend in an op-ed appearing in the Washington Times, writing that \u201cWhile there is much the Senate shouldn\u2019t or needn\u2019t do during the \u201clame-duck\u201d session, the USA Freedom Act is badly needed legislation that has bipartisan support and will protect the rights of all Americans. The NRA and the ACLU, along with many members of Congress from both parties, support these reforms and they should be enacted, without weakening amendments, by the Senate and sent to the White House as soon as possible.\u201d\r\nMeanwhile, an editorial in Bloomberg View said passage of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2014 \u201cwould represent some substantial and unexpected progress in Washington.\u201d\r\nAnd on Friday, all five members of the President\u2019s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology said the legislation \u201cis broadly consistent with the recommendations we made last year in our report on how to safeguard both liberty and security in a rapidly changing world.\u201d \u00a0The group appeared before the Judiciary Committee earlier this year to discuss their recommendations to reform the nation\u2019s broad surveillance laws, a number of which align with Leahy\u2019s bipartisan legislation.\u00a0\r\nSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is the author of the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act of 2014, which represents the most significant reform of government surveillance authorities since Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001. The House passed similar legislation reining in surveillance authorities in May, and the Senate bill authored by Leahy includes stronger protections supported by a range of stakeholders who are now urging Congress to act before the end of the year.\r\n\u201cSection 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act expires on June 1, and our intelligence officials are asking for operational certainty.\u00a0 Likewise, the American people are asking us to protect their privacy,\u201d Leahy said.\u00a0 \u201cIt is time to show the American people that Congress is about more than talking points, sound bites, and the next campaign.\u00a0 It is time to get back to work, and to pass the USA FREEDOM Act.\u201d\r\nAn outline of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2014 can be found here, and text of legislation can be found online. \u00a0A list of supporters of the legislation can also be found online.\r\n# # # # #\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tPress Contact  David Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/supporters-amp-up-pressure-for-senate-to-take-up-and-pass-historic-nsa-reform-ahead-of-key-vote-tuesday"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4537360984832048, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}