Amash-Conyers Amendment

Rep. Justin Amash

Rep. John Conyers

The Amash-Conyers Amendment was a proposal to end the "NSA's blanket collection of Americans' telephone records", sponsored by Justin Amash and John Conyers in the US House of Representatives.^[1] The measure was voted down, 217 to 205.

Background

Amash-Conyers Amendment

Full title	An amendment to end authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act. It would also bar the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215.
Introduced in	113th United States Congress
Introduced on	July 24, 2013
Sponsored by	Justin Amash, John Conyers
Legislative history

In the wake of the 2013 surveillance disclosures, members of the House considered a reform amendment that would limit bulk data collection.

Rep. Conyers described his reactions to the disclosures as saying "It was shocking and disappointing that we went this far. I'm not happy about it."^[2][3]

Proposed amendment

The proposal was to amend the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.^[4] According to Amash, the amendment^[1][5]

• "sought to bar the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records", thereby ending the mass surveillance of Americans. Instead, it permitted "the FISA court under Sec. 215 to order the production of records that pertain only to a person under investigation".

• would have permitted the continued use of business records and other "tangible things" if the data were "actually related to an authorized counter-terrorism investigation".

• would have required judicial oversight with "a substantive, statutory standard to apply to make sure the NSA does not violate Americans' civil liberties".

Opposition

Notable opposition to the amendment came from Mike Rogers and Dutch Ruppersberger, the senior leaders of the House Intelligence Committee, Keith Alexander, and the Obama administration.^[2] The Obama administration statement criticized the amendment for being a "blunt approach", saying "We urge the House to reject the Amash amendment and instead move forward with an approach that appropriately takes into account the need for a reasoned review of what tools can best secure the nation."^[2][6] General Keith Alexander, the director of the NSA, gave an "emergency" four-hour briefing for House members in which he "implored legislators that preventing his agency from collecting the phone records on millions of Americans would have dire consequences for national security."^[6][7]

Vote

  Democratic yea

  Democratic nay

  Republican yea

  Republican nay

  Absent or no representative seated

On July 24, 2013, the amendment was considered by the House of Representatives. The measure was "narrowly defeated" by a vote of 217 to 205.^[2][8][9]

The vote was noticed for its unusual split, described as "one of the most unusual votes taken in the House in a long time."^[10] It garnered both bi-partisan support and bi-partisan opposition: 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats voted for the amendment. It was opposed by 134 Republicans and 83 Democrats.^[11] House leaders from both parties opposed the amendment.^[6] The Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence Committee released a joint statement opposing the amendment, arguing it would have "eliminated a crucial counterterrorism tool".^[6][12][13]

An analysis indicated that those who voted against the amendment received 122% more in campaign contributions from defense contractors than those who voted in favor.^[14]

List of votes

References

External links

• Amendment fact sheet at Rep. Amash's official site
• Full text of the Amash-Conyers amendment
• Vote records
• Amash-Conyers Amendment at Library of Congress