On the recordMay 20, 2015
I would say that all of the matters we have talked about this afternoon, this evening, would be significant concerns with respect to ensuring the liberties of the American people are protected without compromising our safety. Let's check them off: bulk phone collection, millions and millions of phone records of law-abiding Americans; the Executive order No. 12333 that we talked about today, another very important area; and then section 702, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act area, where a foreigner is the target and the records of Americans are swept up. So I think we are addressing exactly one of the concerns that has come out in the last few days with respect to what Americans are concerned about. I know there has just been a brand-new major survey that has been done. My colleagues may have touched on it sometime in the course of the day. Americans particularly want to know what information about them is being collected and who is doing the collecting. In each of these three areas that I mentioned, there are substantial questions with respect to the privacy rights of Americans.
