Author Of Patriot Act: NSA Phone Tracking ‘Excessive And Un-American’

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., left, and ranking member Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., participate in a committee markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. ... House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., left, and ranking member Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., participate in a committee markup hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) MORE LESS
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Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who wrote and introduced the PATRIOT Act to Congress in 2001, said in a statement Thursday that the National Security Agency overstepped its bounds by issuing a secret order to collect phone log records from millions of Americans.

“As the author of the Patriot Act, I am extremely troubled by the FBI’s interpretation of this legislation,” he said in a statement. “While I believe the Patriot Act appropriately balanced national security concerns and civil rights, I have always worried about potential abuses.

He added: “The Bureau’s broad application for phone records was made under the so-called business records provision of the Act. I do not believe the broadly drafted FISA order is consistent with the requirements of the Patriot Act. Seizing phone records of millions of innocent people is excessive and un-American.”

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