On the recordOctober 20, 2015
Mr. Speaker, it is important, I think, to come over here and discuss H.R. 1428, the Judicial Redress Act. Echoing a lot that has been said already, this is a great starting point for, really, a broader conversation about privacy rights and a conversation that is sorely needed. I supported this bill when it passed the Committee on the Judiciary unanimously, and I am proud to support it today. The bill extends the same rights afforded to Americans under the 1974 Privacy Act to citizens of certain allied nations. Importantly, only citizens of countries who extend similar rights to Americans for redress for privacy violations are eligible. As everyone here is aware, revelations about U.S. surveillance operations created serious trust issues, and both the government and tech sectors experienced a decline in that global trust. Advances in technology and innovation have made it possible and necessary for law enforcement to exchange information, but it should not be done at the expense of privacy rights. In order to restore global trust and ensure continued competitiveness for our thriving tech industry, we must work to restore consumers' faith that their data is secure in U.S. tech companies and their privacy rights are protected. {time} 1615 The United States tech industry employed an estimated 6.5 million people in 2014 and made up a large 7.1 percent of the U.S. GDP, which is going to do nothing but grow.…





