The Reform Government
Surveillance coalition strongly supports the Judicial Redress Act (H.R.1428)
and encourages all House members to support this much-needed piece of
legislation when it is considered on Tuesday and strongly urges the U.S. Senate
to take it up immediately upon passage. The European Court of Justice’s
decision to invalidate the U.S.-E.U. Safe Harbor agreement makes passage of the
Judicial Redress Act even more imperative to preserving the flow of data
between European countries and the United States. The Coalition has
consistently noted that, in general, the Act is an important next step in
surveillance reform after passage of the USA Freedom Act. By extending
the rights of the Privacy Act –which allows individuals to access, review, and
request correction of information that a government agency may collect– to our
E.U. allies, we will enable governments to cooperate fully in cross-border law
enforcement and counter-terrorism investigations. We will also allow the
U.S. to continue to rebuild trust in how consumers view technology companies
when they cooperate with legitimate law enforcement requirements—an important
point in light of the recent ECJ decision, and a building block in further talks
between the U.S. and E.U. on transatlantic data flow. The RGS coalition
urges Congress to enact the Judicial Redress Act this year and applauds House
Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Crime Subcommittee Chairman Jim
Sensenbrenner, Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers and other bill
supporters for their leadership on this important issue. We look forward
to working with Senate cosponsors Senator Christopher S. Murphy and Senator
Orrin G. Hatch towards final passage in the Senate.
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