Last month, Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor surprised some observers by voting against a measure in the House that would have defunded the National Security Agency's blanket collection of telephone records; the measure barely lost, 217-205. Later it was reported that Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi had rallied many in her caucus to oppose the attempt by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Michigan, despite their criticism of the NSA in the wake of revelations unveiled by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
But Castor told CL today that she "strongly" supports reforming the NSA, beginning with the collection of so-called metadata, where phone companies send lists to the government of who called whom and when.
She also wants to see reform within the FISA court — the secret court that rules whether the government can pursue certain surveillance activities.
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2013.