“WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Wednesday evening narrowly defeated an amendment from Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) meant to halt the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of phone record data.
“We’re here today for a very simple reason: to defend the Fourth Amendment, to defend the privacy of each and every American,” Amash said as he introduced his measure. Lawmakers’ votes, he said, would answer one simple question, “Do we oppose the suspicionless collection of every American’s phone records?”
On Wednesday, at least, the answer was no. The House voted 217-205 to defeat the amendment after intense last-minute lobbying from the White House and the NSA.”
