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Huffman Votes to End NSA's Indiscriminate Surveillance of All Americans, Against DoD Funding Bill

Press Release

Date: July 25, 2013
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Defense

Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) voted last night to end the National Security Agency's ability to conduct indiscriminate surveillance on all Americans and voted against the 2014 Defense Appropriations Act.

"I voted for the Amash-Conyers amendment to end the NSA's ability to conduct indiscriminate surveillance of all Americans and collect records on every phone call that every American makes without demonstrating why the information is necessary to a pending investigation," said Congressman Huffman. "I voted no on the bloated Defense Appropriations bill, which makes us less safe at home as it prevents the closure of Guantanamo Bay, blocks nuclear arsenal reductions under the New START treaty, prohibits the Defense Department from using renewable fuels, and doubles down on costly, failed initiatives."

Huffman voted "yes" on the Amash-Conyers amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill, which would require the National Security Agency (NSA) to use its resources to gather information only on the subjects of national security investigations, rather than on all Americans. The NSA is currently using its authority under the PATRIOT Act and classified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court interpretations to collect records on every phone call that every American makes, including purely domestic calls.

Congressman Huffman opposed a number of amendments to the Defense Appropriations bill, including:

-Provision of the bill that makes it more difficult to close Guantanamo Bay Detention Center by prohibiting the use of funds to transfer detainees or for the development of alternative detention sites.

-Prevents the Defense Department from purchasing alternative fuels.

-Prohibition on the use of funds to implement nuclear weapon reductions under the New START Treaty with Russia.

-Prevents the military from paying fines to the California Air Resource Board even when in violation of clean air laws and regulations.


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