Yep, they're still fighting this:
http://www.wired.com/...
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Mark Udall (D-Colorado) are blasting the NSA’s admission that — because of its own internal bungling — it carried out thousands of inquiries on phone numbers without any of the court-ordered screening designed to protect Americans from illegal government surveillance.
It took two of the most outspoken NSA critics nearly a week to respond to Intelligence Director James Clapper’s concession. But regardless, it was a welcome response from the seemingly endless Washington doublespeak supporting the NSA at all costs, even in the face of egregious constitutional breaches.
Here’s what Wyden and Udall had to say:
Documents declassified last week clearly show that court orders authorizing the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records were consistently violated by the NSA. These documents also show that the government repeatedly made serious misrepresentations to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court when seeking authorization to conduct this bulk collection. The intelligence community’s defense was that these violations were occurring because no one had a full grasp of how the bulk collection program actually worked.
If the assertion that ineptitude and not malice was the cause of these ongoing violations is taken at face value, it is perfectly reasonable for Congress and the American people to question whether a program that no one fully understood was an effective defense of American security at all. The fact that this program was allowed to operate this way raises serious concerns about the potential for blind spots in the NSA’s surveillance programs. It also supports our position that bulk collection ought to be ended. - Wired, 9/17/13
Udall and Wyden also had this to add:
http://www.techdirt.com/...
"The government’s misrepresentations inevitably led to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court being consistently misinformed as it made binding rulings on the meaning of U.S. surveillance law. This underscores our concern that intelligence agencies’ assessments and descriptions about particular collection programs — even significant ones — are not always accurate. It is up to Congress, the courts and the public to ask the tough questions and require intelligence officials to back their assertions up with actual evidence. It is not enough to simply defer to these officials’ conclusions without challenging them.” - Tech Dirt, 9/17/13
Udall and Wyden have also been calling on Congress to take action on the NSA surveillance program:
http://thehill.com/...
Congress and the American public should be questioning the programs “if the assertion that ineptitude and not malice was the cause of these ongoing violations,” Wyden and Udall said. “The fact that this program was allowed to operate this way raises serious concerns about the potential for blind spots in the NSA’s surveillance programs.”
Wyden and Udall, who are among the fiercest critics of NSA surveillance, said it’s time for lawmakers and the public to question the effectiveness of the programs and the officials running them.
“It is up to Congress, the courts and the public to ask the tough questions and require intelligence officials to back their assertions up with actual evidence. It is not enough to simply defer to these officials’ conclusions without challenging them.” - The Hill, 9/16/13
President Obama also needs to take action on this. His defense of the NSA surveillance program has caused a riff between himself and his party:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Some Democrats said Mr. Obama’s troubles with liberals extended beyond Congress. “Always the challenge a president has is to continue to have strong relations with all the electorate,” said Senator Mark Udall of Colorado, a critic of Mr. Obama’s N.S.A. policies. “But your base and your loyal supporters, I think you owe them a little more attention, a little more time.” - New York Times, 9/17/13
Glad to see Udall and Wyden keep up the good fight, especially Udall. He's been busy addressing the floods in Colorado. You can hear him talk about it on the Senate floor:
Udall and Senator Michael Bennet (D. CO) also have been pushing to get Ron Binz, the former Colorado utility regulator who championed renewable energy, approved by the Senate to lead the FERC:
http://www.denverpost.com/...
Binz was introduced Tuesday by Colorado's two Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet.
"Ron has a long career in public service in Colorado," Bennet said. "He's earned a reputation as a great listener. Ron's long experience combined with his very pragmatic temperament make him well suited" for the job.
Udall, who said during the hearing that Binz likes to make his own pickles, beer and wine, called him a great communicator "who is willing to sit down with you at a minute's notice."
"I guess I'm a little bit of a homer here," said Udall, who will get to vote on Binz's confirmation from his position on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. - Denver Post, 9/17/13
And Udall's also been pushing to get teh Senate to pass the Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill passed through the Senate:
Advocating for policies that spur job creation has been priority number one for me since Coloradans elected me to the U.S. Senate.
That’s why I’m joining colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support energy efficiency legislation that would create 136,000 new jobs and reduce our country’s wasteful energy practices.
This is a commonsense step forward, but some far right-wing Republican obstructionists are gearing up to try and stop it at any cost. I need your help to stop them.
Please join my colleagues Senators Chris Coons, Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Pryor, Brian Schatz, Jeanne Shaheen, Mark Warner, and myself to call on Congress to pass the Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill without delay:
http://www.energysavingsreform.com/...
According to a new study, the United States wastes about 86% of its energy. This means a waste of money, a higher demand for foreign oil, and intensified global warming.
But by using modern tools in buildings new and old, we can reduce the waste, increase productivity and competitiveness — all while creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and saving Americans nearly $14 billion a year. That's pure common sense.
I’ve also introduced two amendments to strengthen the bill even further. The first would streamline the variety of existing federal initiatives available to make schools more energy efficient. Nationwide, data centers account for 2% of the country's total electricity usage. My other amendment would make sure government is doing its part to reduce waste in federal data centers and saving money for taxpayers.
These days, it’s not often that we can make bipartisan progress on big issues like this. We need to move this legislation forward and not allow some obstructionist Republican senators to sink the bill.
The vote could come to the floor any day now. We need your support today.
Click here to join my colleagues and me in telling Congress to pass Shaheen-Portman without delay:
http://www.energysavingsreform.com/...
Thanks for your support,
Mark Udall
U.S. Senator
You can click here to sign Udall's petition:
http://www.energysavingsreform.com/...