Reid: Pass NSA reform bill this week

Minority Leader Harry Reid on Tuesday said the Senate should pass legislation this week to reform a controversial surveillance program.

{mosads}”To stand in the way of reforming these practices is to ignore the voice of the American people,” the Nevada Democrat said. “The Senate should act now on the USA Freedom Act before it leaves for the Memorial Day recess and restore the confidence of the American people.”

Senators are expected to leave at the end of the week; they aren’t scheduled to return to Washington until June 1. That means they would need to pass legislation renewing provisions of the Patriot Act, which expire on June 1, before heading out town in order to stop them from expiring.

Reid added that if senators are unable to reform the National Security Agency (NSA) collection program, “we’re ignoring the ruling of the Second Circuit and we’re not allowing the American people’s voices to be heard.”

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month ruled that the NSA’s bulk, warrantless collection of millions of Americans’ phone records is illegal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has pushed for a flat extension of the surveillance program, which the NSA has sought to justify using Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Two other provisions are also set to expire.

They argue McConnell should allow a vote on the USA Freedom Act, which would require the NSA to ask private companies for a narrow set of phone records that are involved in a particular case. The NSA would no longer hold the records itself.

McConnell has placed the reform bill, as well as a two-month “clean” extension of the Patriot Act, directly into the Senate calendar, which would mean they could be voted on this week.

But it’s unclear if either proposal could get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) criticized Senate Republicans on Tuesday, saying leadership is “scrambling at the last minute to avoid a crisis that it made.”