The Justice Department should disclose by Sept. 30 what other potential collection items it believesnSection 215 of the Patriot Act authorizes, House Judiciary Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee ChairmannJim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told Attorney General Eric Holder in a Friday letter (http://1.usa.gov/15QxiB1).nSensenbrenner authored the Patriot Act and has been a vocal critic of the government’s bulk phone data collectionnfollowing recent revelations about National Security Agency surveillance. Sensenbrenner plans tonintroduce a bill in Congress soon addressing those concerns, his office told us last week (CD Sept 6 p5).n“The administration’s interpretation to allow for bulk collection is at odds with Congressional intent andnwith both the plain and legal meanings of ‘relevance,'” he said in his letter to Holder. “The implications ofnthis flawed interpretation are staggering.” The NSA has defended its collection under various legal provisionsnin recent months. Sensenbrenner asked Holder whether Justice believes the Patriot Act authorizes thengovernment to collect all records of commercial transactions between Americans, to bulk-collect all recordsnof firearm sales, to assemble a database of gun owners, whether the administration collects records in bulknother than phone records and how Justice might distinguish the collection of commercial transactions in bulknfrom its collection of phone records.
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