US Congress clips NSA surveillance powers

The US Senate passed landmark legislation on June 2 that ends the government’s bulk telephone data collection program, reining in the most controversial surveillance program since the 9/11 attacks of 2001. The “USA Freedom Act” is hailed as the “first major overhaul of government surveillance laws in decades” by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy. It shifts responsibility for storing the data to telephone companies, allowing authorities to access the information only with a warrant from a secret counterterror court. The passage of the bill follows days of sharp debate, with Republicans split over the issue. The bill will be sent to Obama for signature. 

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