Montana’s newest senator is calling out the National Security Administration for collecting phone records.
Along with Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Senator Steve Daines is calling on the NSA to end its ‘bulk meta-data collection program’. Under this program, millions of Americans’ phone records are obtained and stored by the NSA for intelligence purposes. It’s part of the Patriot Act, which congress is currently debating whether to reauthorize.
Senator Daines says he has had his doubts with the program and questions its effectiveness.
“This program is a direct threat to our constitutional rights. It has jeopardized our civil liberties with little proven effectiveness,” said Senator Daines.
While in the house, Daines was a supporter of the USA Freedom Act that would have ultimately ended the program.
The bill however did not make it to the president’s desk.