Burgess Statement on USA Freedom Act Vote

Statement

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) today issued the following statement after voting against the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361), which would reform the National Security Agency's program of collecting American phone records:

"I have been a strong supporter of legislation that would curtail the abuse of American civil liberties by the Obama Administration's National Security Agency. In fact, I supported H.R. 3361 as it was originally written: to rein in the dragnet collection of data by the NSA, increase transparency, provide businesses the ability to release information regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and create and independent constitutional advocate to argue cases before the FISC.

"I have a long history of supporting legislation that protects American civil liberties. However, the bill that came before the House today was not the same as the one I originally cosponsored. I believed it did not go far enough in achieving its goal to protect average Americans from being spied on by their government. I felt that the particulars of this bill came up so fast there was not adequate time to evaluate it. As a consequence, I could not support it.

"It is the job of the Congress to protect American citizens' constitutional rights, as well as protect our country from terrorist attacks. Balancing those goals is complicated, and it means ensuring programs like these do not go so far as to compromise our fundamental rights to privacy and freedom. In turn, I will continue to make conscientious votes that keep this delicate balance in mind."

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