Bill Limiting NSA Surveillance Practices Fails In Senate

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/npr/365073310/bill-limiting-nsa-surveillance-practices-fails-in-senate

The USA Freedom Act had the support of not only the White House and Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy but also that of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, but the bid to reform the NSA failed late Tuesday after it didn't receive enough votes to cut off debate.

After a 58-42 vote, the measure had the support of the majority – but it didn't get the 60 votes necessary to break a Republican filibuster. It was something of an odd end for a bill that had been approved by the Republican-controlled House back in May.

The USA Freedom Act sought to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, to "rein in the dragnet collection of data by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government agencies, increase transparency of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court," as its chief House sponsor, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., says in a summary on his website.