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We think it s wrong for the government to be collecting phone records on every single american s phone calls and we do differ as to the strategy of how to deal with it, and although he and i share a similar concern, i don t agree with his approach and i have taken a different approach here, and i think the usa freedom act solves the underlying problem. let me ask you this finally before i let you go. when this program, the bulk metadata program was revealed through edward snowden, and the talking point disappeared, and senator pat leahy and others established in fact it was one plot $8,500 going from one american to al shabaab and directly to information collected in the phone metadata program, and the data is still getting collected, and why is ....
We think it s wrong for the government to be collecting phone records on every single american s phone calls. we do differ as to the strategy of how to deal with it, and although he and i share a similar concern, i don t agree with his approach and i have taken a different approach here, and i think the usa freedom act solves the underlying problem. but let me ask you this finally before i let you go. when this program, the bulk metadata program was revealed through edward snowden, the administration first claimed there were some 50 terror plots that had been blocked due to that metadata collection. that number was watered down. that talking point disappeared. senator pat leahy and others established that, well, in fact it was just one plot. $8,500 going from an american to al shabab that was directly connected to information collected in the phone metadata program. the fact is the government under this proposal won t hold the data anymore but the phone companies will. i mean the dat ....
Because i recognized that this cliff was coming. we ve known for four years that this deadline was approaching. and i think the american people are starting to demand more. they re starting to expect that congress actually moves ahead of the game and stops governing by cliff. the american people deserve better than this, especially when it comes to a program that is an integral part of protecting our national security. so how did we get to this cliff? it s not a budget showdown. it s a national security showdown. how did we get here? well we ve known it was coming for the last four years. several of us had concerns starting the last time this program was reauthorized four years ago. we voted against it. and we began working on a process to reform section 215 of the patriot act. you know i felt strongly about this for a long time so much so that i devoted an entire chapter of my new book our lost constitution to this program and to its ramifications for the fourth amendment and fo ....
Country to determine whether this was a couple of guys in boston or a national plot. so i think it s important that people understand we re not talking about the content of phone calls. my concern, and i support the concept of moving the data out of the government. i think that s a good idea from a privacy point of view. my concern is if you move it out of the government and leave it with the phone companies and the phone companies say we will hold that data for a week or month or six months, then the program loses its functionality altogether, and you repealed it without really saying so. and that s been the issue that i ve been trying to raise throughout this process, is there should be some reasonable requirement for holding the data if indeed you think the program has some value, and i do. i hear you on the point it s not the content of phone conversations. i m aware of that. i think many of our viewers are aware of that. but at the end of the day it s still about who americans a ....
well, they go further in that they answer a question the president left open yesterday and that is if you take the bulk metadata program away from the government, what do you do with it, who holds on to that data. i think the program should be restructured in a way that the telephone companies hold on to their own data. they do this anyway, and i think we can develop the technological ability to get the information from those phone companies with court approval in the case by case basis where we need that information, where we think the number s connected to a plot. it s more protective of privacy, still meets our national security objectives. that s how i would have gone farther. but i was pleased to see the president took the immediate step of requiring prior court approval. i think that s very important. you know, some of your colleagues i know have expressed concern that individual records authorizations could take days to secure, which might, let s face it, be too long in the ....