The Amash Amendment and the NSA
Sometime late today or perhaps tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on a proposed amendment to the Defense appropriations bill offered by Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) and co-sponsored by Representative John Conyers (D-MI). The amendment would, in effect, defund the NSA's metadata telephony program that had been exposed by Edward Snowden. The amendment has the support of a number of organizations inc
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Sometime late today or perhaps tomorrow the House of Representatives will vote on a proposed amendment to the Defense appropriations bill offered by Representative Justin Amash (R-MI) and co-sponsored by Representative John Conyers (D-MI). The amendment would, in effect, defund the NSA's metadata telephony program that had been exposed by Edward Snowden. The amendment has the support of a number of organizations including the ACLU, EFF, CDT and CEI. A group of former national security officials from the Bush Administration have written a letter supporting the continuation of the NSA program, and the Wall St. Journal has an op-ed on the subject in today's paper. Steve Bradbury, the former AAG for OLC had an op-ed on the topic yesterday in the Washington Post and participated in a teleforum debate on the constitutionality of the program yesterday (the recording should be available later today). My own modest thoughts were also published yesterday as well. My bottom line: A premature rush to judgment.
Paul Rosenzweig is the founder of Red Branch Consulting PLLC, a homeland security consulting company and a Senior Advisor to The Chertoff Group. Mr. Rosenzweig formerly served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Department of Homeland Security. He is a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University, a Senior Fellow in the Tech, Law & Security program at American University, and a Board Member of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy.
