Tester statement on illegal NSA data collection

(U.S. Senate) – Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement after a federal appeals court ruled that the National Security Agency (NSA)’s bulk collection of Americans’ phone records was illegal:

“Today’s court ruling confirms what most Americans already know: it’s long past time for Congress to protect Americans’ civil liberties by putting meaningful sideboards on our intelligence agencies. We cannot have the federal government violating the privacy of law-abiding citizens.”

Tester is a leading voice for protecting Montanans’ and Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. The Senator recently demanded the U.S. Justice Department answer questions after a news report revealed that the department tracked and collected billions of international phone calls from law-abiding Americans.