Sen. Leahy Unimpressed With Obama Speech, Will Push Reforms

'We Have Gone Too Much Into Americans' Privacy'

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D – VT) appeared entirely unimpressed with President Obama’s vague pledges of “reforms” in his Friday speech, and today promised to push legislation with more meaningful reforms.

“There’s a concern that we have gone too much into Americans’ privacy,” Leahy noted, saying he had no doubt that the Senate would continue with legislation on the matter.

Leahy has co-authored the USA Freedom Act, which would end the NSA phone metadata plan outright, while strengthening prohibitions against surveillance of American citizens by the NSA.

Leahy was joined on TV by Gen. Michael Hayden, who objected to even the nominal reforms offered by Obama, arguing that if anything in the program wasn’t vital “we wouldn’t have been using it.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.