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January 23, 2014

Rep. Schiff Statement on PCLOB Report Urging End of Metadata Program: "Spells Final End of Government's Bulk Collection"

Washington, DC -- Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a senior Member of the Intelligence Committee, released the following statement after the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board released a report calling for an end to the NSA's program of bulk collection of phone metadata:

"The report from the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board spells the final end of the government's bulk collection of telephone metadata. Not only does the report raise serious questions about the statutory and constitutional foundation of the program, but it once again confirms both the limited national security value of the program and the very considerable risk to the privacy of the American people. This is now the second independent review to weigh the security and privacy considerations involved and to find the program wanting.

"Congress will not re-authorize bulk collection of this data when it expires next year, but Congress should not wait for the program to expire on its own. Rather we should work to restructure the program now so that bulk collection is no longer necessary and our security needs can be met by a more traditional approach of going to the telephone companies when we have reason to believe a number is connected with a plot."