When lawmakers seek to rewrite our Fourth Amendment rights, they should at least have the gumption to do so in public. Americans have a reasonable expectation that their federal government will not gather records about their health, their wealth and the transactions of their daily life without probable cause of a crime and without a court order.

An approved purchaser would essentially 'stand in the shoes' of the current tenant with all of its obligations and rights.

It's definitely problematic and chilling.

It provides more protections and important clarifications than the other bills that are being considered, ... But all the bills fall short of what is necessary to bring the Patriot Act back in line with the Constitution.

Instead of addressing the real concerns ... the Republican majority in Congress buckled to White House pressure.

[Lisa Graves of the American Civil Liberties Union scoffed at a defense official's assertion that the proposed change would not allow for carte blanche Pentagon spying inside the United States.] That's some spin, ... The change would allow them to gather information on Americans surreptitiously. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.