The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday (July 24) rejected an attempt to curtail the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities “after a furious last-minute lobbying campaign by the White House to defeat the measure,” according to a report in The Hill. Excerpt:

“The House voted 205-217 against the amendment from Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), which would have prevented the National Security Agency from using the Patriot Act to collect phone records of individuals who aren’t under investigation.

“A majority of Democrats — 111 — voted for Amash’s amendment despite the White House pressure, while 83 Democrats voted no. The GOP vote was 94-134.

“Amash’s amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill pitted liberal Democrats and libertarian Republicans opposed to the NSA’s massive surveillance activities against both parties’ leadership and the Obama administration. …”

Hawaii’s Rep. Tulsi Gabbard voted “aye” on the NSA amendment, while Rep. Colleen Hanabusa voted “no.” Both later voted in favor of the Defense Appropriations bill, which passed.

In a press release following the vote, Gabbard explained why she supported the Amash amendment to “strip funding from the NSA”:

“Countless men and women from my state of Hawaii and all across the country have worn the uniform and put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms and our liberties. I cannot, in good conscience, vote to take a single dollar from the pockets of hard-working taxpayers from across the country to pay for programs which infringe on the very liberties and freedoms our troops have fought and died for. Ben Franklin said, ‘They who give up liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.’”

Courtesy Erik Daniel Drost.

—Chad Blair