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Pocan Votes to End NSA Invasion of Privacy

July 24, 2013

WASHINGTON—U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) today issued the following statement after voting to restrict the National Security Agency’s (NSA) ability to use the Patriot Act to conduct blanket surveillance on Americans not under investigation. The bipartisan measure was introduced as an amendment to the defense funding bill under consideration by the House this week.

“The NSA’s invasive, but unfortunately legal, surveillance tactics are the exact type of government overreach Russ Feingold warned of when the Patriot Act was passed into law,” said Pocan. “While Americans understand that sacrifices must sometimes be made in the name of national security, it is against our country’s principles to unreasonably and excessively infringe on the right to privacy. Allowing the NSA to continue to freely conduct blanket surveillance measures creates an environment where any of our liberties could be up for grabs if the executive branch deems it appropriate. It is past time Congress put an end to these intrusive and secret practices, and I will continue to fight to ensure we can once again restore the necessary balance between privacy and security.”

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