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WASHINGTON Dissenters within the National Security Agency, led by a senior agency executive, warned in 2009 that the program to secretly collect American phone records wasnt providing enough intelligence to justify the backlash it would cause if revealed, current and former intelligence officials say.

The NSA took the concerns seriously, and many senior officials shared them. But after an internal debate that has not been previously reported, NSA leaders, White House officials and key lawmakers opted to continue the collection and storage of American calling records, a domestic surveillance program without parallel in the agencys recent history.

The warnings proved prophetic last year after the calling records program was made public in the first and most significant leak by Edward Snowden, a former NSA systems administrator who cited the governments deception about the program as one of his chief motivations for turning over classified documents to journalists. Many Americans were shocked and dismayed to learn that an intelligence agency collects and stores all their landline calling records.

In response, President Barack Obama is now trying to stop the NSA collection but preserve the agencys ability to search the records in the hands of the telephone companies an arrangement similar to the one the administration quietly rejected in 2009. But his plan, drawing opposition from most Republicans, fell two votes short of advancing in the Senate on Tuesday.

A now-retired NSA senior executive, who was a longtime code-breaker who rose to top management, had just learned in 2009 about the top secret program that was created shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He says he argued to then-NSA Director Keith Alexander that storing the calling records of nearly every American fundamentally changed the character of the agency, which is supposed to eavesdrop on foreigners, not Americans.

Alexander politely disagreed, the former official told The Associated Press.

The former official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he didnt have permission to discuss a classified matter, said he knows of no evidence the program was used for anything other than hunting for terrorism plots in the U.S. But he said he and others made the case that the collection of American records in bulk crossed a line that had been sacrosanct.

He said he also warned of a scandal if it should be disclosed that the NSA was storing records of private calls by Americans to psychiatrists, lovers and suicide hotlines, among other contacts.

Alexander, who led the NSA from 2005 until he retired last year, did not dispute the former officials account, though he said he disagreed that the program was improper.

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NSA dissenters warned of possible privacy backlash in 2009

NASA to NSA, The Global Cloud Spy Network
The whole objective of NASA was to maintain a/the remote control of computers. Controlling the communications with objects in SPACE. Now the NSA has the power to control your computers and...

By: dr Meno

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NASA to NSA, The Global Cloud Spy Network - Video

This undated photo provided by the National Security Agency (NSA) shows its headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland.  NSA via Getty Images

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Tuesday blocked a bill to end bulk collection of American phone records by the National Security Agency, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's primary proposal to rein in domestic surveillance.

The 58-42 vote was two short of the 60 needed to proceed with debate. Voting was largely along party lines, with most Democrats supporting the bill and most Republicans voting against it. The Republican-controlled House had previously passed its own NSA bill.

The legislation would have ended the NSA's collection of domestic calling records, instead requiring the agency to obtain a court order each time it wanted to analyze the records in terrorism cases, and query records held by the telephone companies. In many cases the companies store the records for 18 months.

The revelation that the spying agency had been collecting and storing domestic phone records since shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was among the most significant by Edward Snowden, a former agency network administrator who turned over secret NSA documents to journalists. The agency collects only so-called metadata - numbers called, not names - and not the content of conversations. But the specter of the intelligence agency holding domestic calling records was deeply disquieting to many Americans.

The bill had drawn support from technology companies and civil liberties activists. Its failure means there has been little in the way of policy changes as a result of Snowden's disclosures.

Pressured to act, Obama in January proposed curbing the NSA's authority and the House in May passed a bill to do so. While the measure was pending, the NSA continued to collect American landline calling records, though the program does not cover most mobile phone records.

The law authorizing the bulk collection, a provision of the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act, will expire in June 2015. That means Congress would have to pass legislation re-authorizing the program for it to continue.

For that reason, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, abandoned her previous opposition to the bill. "If we do not pass the bill, we will lose this program," Feinstein said on the Senate floor.

"This bill increases trust and confidence and credibility of our intelligence system," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Originally posted here:
Senate inaction allows NSA to keep collecting phone records

WASHINGTON The Senate on Tuesday blocked a bill to end bulk collection of Americans' phone records by the National Security Agency, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's primary proposal to rein in domestic surveillance.

The 58-42 vote was two short of the 60 needed to proceed with debate under Senate procedural rules. Voting was largely along party lines, with most Democrats supporting the bill and most Republicans voting against it. The Republican-controlled House had previously passed its ownNSAbill.

The legislation would have ended theNSA'scollection of domestic calling records, instead requiring the agency to obtain a court order each time it wanted to analyze the records in terrorism cases, and query records held by the telephone companies. In many cases the companies store the records for 18 months.

The revelation that the spying agency had been collecting and storing domestic phone records since shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was among the most significant by Edward Snowden, a former agency network administrator who turned over secretNSAdocuments to journalists. The agency collects only so-called metadata numbers called, not names and not the content of conversations. But the specter of the intelligence agency holding domestic calling records was deeply disquieting to many Americans.

The bill had drawn support from technology companies and civil liberties activists. Its failure means there has been little in the way of policy changes as a result of Snowden's disclosures.

Pressured to act, Obama in January proposed curbing theNSA's authority and the House in May passed a bill to do so. While the measure was pending, theNSAcontinued to collect American landline calling records, though the program does not cover most mobile phone records.

The law authorizing the bulk collection, a provision of the post-9/11 USA Patriot Act, will expire at the end of 2015. That means Congress would have to pass legislation re-authorizing the program for it to continue.

For that reason, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, abandoned her previous opposition to the bill. "If we do not pass the bill, we will lose this program," Feinstein said on the Senate floor.

"This bill increases trust and confidence and credibility of our intelligence system," said Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

But Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee, called the bill "totally flawed" and said theNSAneeds the ability to sift through domestic calling records and hold the records. "We have under surveillance any number of Americans who are committed to jihad," Chambliss said.

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Senate Republicans block bill: NSA will continue monitoring your calls (+video)

By Ted Barrett, CNN

updated 9:08 PM EST, Tue November 18, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Republican opponents of White House-backed legislation that would rein in NSA surveillance programs narrowly blocked the Senate from taking up the bill Tuesday after warning it could help terrorists escape detection.

On a tally of 58 to 42, a procedural vote failed to get the supermajority 60 votes it needed to advance.

Supporters of the USA Freedom Act, a rare mix of liberal Democrats and libertarian Republicans, hoped public outrage over the secret mass collection of phone and Internet records -- revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden -- would lead to passage of the reforms. But many opponents argued the changes would hamper the National Security Agency's ability to track nimble and elusive terrorists.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell led the charge against the bill, saying the new rules would prevent the United States from capturing the terrorists who killed Peter Kassig, a U.S. citizen doing aid work in Syria. Kassig was executed over the weekend.

"Many of these fighters are familiar with America's intelligence capabilities, and many are savvy with communications. These are terrorists who know how to use encryption, and they how to change devices quickly," he said. "This is the worst time to be tying our hands behind our backs."

"It basically takes us back to a pre-9/11 lack of capacity to identify terrorists making telephone calls in the United States, said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican. "I think that sort of unilateral disarmament would be bad for the country."

McConnell also argued the measure should be debated and voted on in the new Congress next year, not by lawmakers in a lame duck session who are leaving Washington.

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Senate blocks bill curbing NSA surveillance