WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline (D-RI) today worked with colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee to send the bipartisan USA FREEDOM Act, H.R. 2048, to the House floor. Cicilline is an original co-sponsor of the proposal that would end the NSA’s controversial collection of bulk data and enact other important civil liberties reforms while also protecting the security of the American people.

“The right to privacy is a sacred American value. Today is an important step forward to protect this right and keep the government out of the personal lives of law-abiding citizens,” said Cicilline. “I was pleased to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle today in order to move this bill out of committee, and I look forward to continuing this effort when the USA FREEDOM Act is considered by the full House of Representatives.”

The Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring (USA FREEDOM) Act would protect civil liberties by reforming key provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that Congress passed in 2001. Most notably, it ends the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) ability to conduct warrantless bulk data collection on United States citizens. The bill is co-sponsored by eight House Republicans and 13 House Democrats.

Published media reports first outlined the full scope of the NSA’s bulk data collection program in June 2013 when it was revealed that communications data for millions of American citizens was being collected and maintained by the Agency regardless of whether the individual was suspected of committing a crime. The revelations led the NSA to admit last December that it had “incorrectly acquired” data on American citizens for 12 years.

In addition to ending the bulk data collection program, the USA FREEDOM Act gives courts new discretion to require the deletion of overly broad information that is collected, imposes new limits on collecting data from individuals who have communicated with a surveillance target, and requires the Director of the FBI to approve any gag orders in connection with a subpoena (previously an FBI agent could issue a gag order without additional oversight).

“Even if the USA FREEDOM Act is signed into law, we will still have more work to do in order to curb the worst excesses of government surveillance,” continued Cicilline. “That’s why I will continue to work alongside advocates for reform in order to curtail Section 702 of FISA so the NSA cannot indiscriminately spy on Americans who are communicating with someone overseas and also to limit the use of roving wiretaps by the Federal government.”

The USA FREEDOM Act passed the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 25-2. It now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives.