
H.R.2818 - Surveillance State Repeal Act - thex86
http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/2818
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zaroth
Stunningly interesting exceptions and, if I'm reading this right, not
necessarily an improvement:

"Repeals the USA PATRIOT Act ... except with respect to ... the acquisition of
intelligence information concerning an entity not substantially composed of
U.S. persons that is engaged in the international proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction."

"Requires orders ... to direct ... any person or entity must furnish all
information, facilities, or technical assistance necessary to accomplish such
surveillance

\- in a manner to protect its secrecy and produce a minimum of interference
with the services

\- that such carrier, landlord, custodian, or other person is providing the
target of such surveillance

\- (thereby retaining the ability to conduct surveillance on such targets
regardless of the type of communications methods or devices being used by the
subject of the surveillance)."

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ChuckMcM
All the negative waves [1] :-) This is primarily a bill where some folks can
vote for it, feeling confident it won't pass, and get re-elected by "trying to
shut down those rogue intelligence agencies." But it can also get people
elected, just like the tea partiers got elected on the fear of government over
spending, liberals can get elected on the fear of government oversight. Mixing
up the opinions in congress is always a good thing in my opinion.

[1] Yes a Kelly's Heroes reference.

~~~
nextw33k
I remember such a vote on the Iraq war back in Tony Blair's time in office. My
MP's re-election literature said he voted against the war on Iraq, so I looked
it up and sure enough there were 3 votes in total. He voted twice for the war
and once against. Technically he's correct he voted against the war.

This is the kind of thing that gives me no faith in the system. I still write
letters and vote, but we need greater democracy.

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sillysaurus2
_Repeals the USA PATRIOT Act_

Okay, so there's effectively zero chance that this bill will ever pass.

The PATRIOT act was a power grab, and governments don't willingly give up
power. The only way this would pass is if the members of congress were in
danger of not getting reelected if it didn't.

~~~
ekianjo
> were in danger of not getting reelected if it didn't

I'd rather say this would only occur if they were in danger of being lynched
if it didn't. Losing a reelection has never been a huge incentive to put
government power in question. On the contrary they'd rather lose once and come
back in 5 years with the same powers in place (or more).

~~~
kyboren
Or more likely, move to a cushy, well-paid position as lobbyist or "VP of
Regulatory Affairs".

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greenyoda
This bill was introduced by Rep. Rush Holt, a Democrat from New Jersey (12th
District). Here's a statement from him on surveillance issues:

[http://holt.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view...](http://holt.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1204&Itemid=18)

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hrasyid
in order for a bill to become law,

1 - it has to be agreed by a couple of committees, 2 - exact copies have to be
passed by the two chambers of the congress, each of which are controlled by
opposed factions, which disagree about almost anything and rarely compromised
3 - it has to be not vetoed by the president.

So probably it won't pass. In fact, I wonder how can they get anything passed
these days.

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na85
Something tells me this won't pass.

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frank_boyd
A couple of laws will never be enough to stop the NSA's antics (including
probably also the CIA's and FBI's).

It's out of control, anything short of "desperate" measures will not correct
the issue.

~~~
kyboren
I think you're right.

Even if the law was changed to explicitly disallow these unconstitutional
surveillance programs, these agencies would simply break the law and cover it
up in a shroud of secrecy. The whistle-blowing provisions might help encourage
upstanding individuals to pierce that shroud of secrecy, though.

Unfortunately, so long as government officials and the political elite have de
facto immunity from prosecution of any and all criminal behavior (up to and
including torture and premeditated murder of US citizens), all the laws and
exposure in the world won't change their pattern of criminality.

