The Senate cleared the bill, which aims at effectively ending the government's mass storage of Americans' telephone records, leaving the storage of data to telephone companies, with a vote of 83-14. The bill does not address the National Security Agency's other surveillance powers.
Amendments proposed by Senate Republicans threaten to derail the bill, which will be voted on by the upper chamber later this afternoon. Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell proposed to extend the period of transition for the moving of data from government to phone company hands from 6 to 12 months, along with the creation of a certification process to ensure that phone companies have the technology to allow the government to search their databases. Moreover, Republicans will introduce an amendment which would remove a provision requiring the declassification of decisions issued by FISA courts, which oversee law enforcement agencies' requests for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign intelligence agents.
Should the Senate amendments pass, the bill will be sent back to the House for the approval before it appears on the president's desk for signing.
