Florida lawmakers in Washington on both sides of the aisle have differing opinions about the NSA surveillance controversy. Some oppose the surveillance program; others hail it as an appropriate safeguard against terrorism.
Sen. Bill Nelson, a longtime Florida politician, defended the programs, saying they are lawful and court-approved. Nelson slammed Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old whistleblower who blew the lid off the NSAs surveillance program to United Kingdom-based The Guardian. Nelson also added that Snowden should be extradited and prosecuted for exposing the surveillance program.
We cannot have national security if our secrets cannot be kept, said Nelson, who called the exposure of the massive surveillance program an act of treason.
Snowden was briefly staying in Hong Kong, but his current whereabouts are unknown. There have been no criminal charges filed against him yet.
But other legislators from Florida seem to be less certain of the surveillance program, and some of those opposed to it have gone as far as creating legislation in order to stop any further government snooping.
One legislator in particular, Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, has already filed legislation that would prohibit the Department of Defense from spying on Americans living within the U.S. border.
If Graysons legislation passes, it could limit or totally eliminate the NSA program allowing the government to get records from Americas biggest Internet providers. Just last week, reports surfaced about a secret surveillance program to obtain millions of Verizon phone records. Graysons bill, if passed, would also impact the NSAs ability to gather these phone records.
"It is completely wrong and utterly unconstitutional," began Grayson. "The government has no right to get our email records. The government has no right to check the websites that we browse."
Other legislators took the middle road and didnt express too much opinion on the matter. Sen. Marco Rubio neither openly supported nor opposed the surveillance program, but simply said it's a real issue Americans will have to deal with.
"The threat that we face -- largely radical, political Islamists -- is probably a threat that is going to exist for the rest of our lifetimes. It's just the reality. We have to deal with it," Rubio began. "The world changed after 9/11, and it changed after Boston. It's just a struggle to try to balance our deeply held convictions of privacy and freedoms and liberties with our need to provide for national security."
President Obama attempted to assure Americans that no one is listening to their phone calls, but a Rasmussen Reports poll showed nearly 70 percent of Americans still think the government is listening in. A related poll showed more than half of Americans are opposed to the governments secret collection of phone records.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com.
