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H.R. 2048 (114th): USA FREEDOM Act of 2015

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About the bill

Source: Wikipedia

The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of telecommunication metadata on U.S. citizens by American intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency. It also restores authorization for roving wiretaps and tracking lone wolf terrorists. The title of the act originally was a ten-letter backronym (USA FREEDOM) that stood for Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection and Online Monitoring Act.

The bill was originally introduced in both houses of the U.S. Congress on October 29, 2013, following publication of classified NSA memos describing bulk data collection programs leaked …

Sponsor and status

Photo of sponsor James Sensenbrenner

James Sensenbrenner

Sponsor. Representative for Wisconsin's 5th congressional district. Republican.

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Last Updated: Oct 11, 2016
Length: 46 pages
Introduced
Apr 28, 2015
114th Congress (2015–2017)
Status

Enacted — Signed by the President on Jun 2, 2015

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on June 2, 2015.

Law
Pub.L. 114-23
Cosponsors

27 Cosponsors (17 Democrats, 10 Republicans)

Source
Congress.gov

Position statements

What legislators are saying

“The Senate Should Quit Theatrics and Pass USA Freedom Act”
    — Rep. Tom Marino [R-PA12, 2019-2019] (Co-sponsor) on Jun 1, 2015

“Goodlatte, Conyers, Sensenbrenner, Nadler Applaud Clean Passage of the USA Freedom Act in the Senate”
    — Rep. Jerrold Nadler [D-NY10] (Co-sponsor) on Jun 2, 2015

“Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee, In Support of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015, HR 2048”
    — Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT] on May 22, 2015

More statements at ProPublica Represent...

Incorporated legislation

This bill incorporates provisions from:

S. 1123: USA FREEDOM Act of 2015

Introduced on Apr 28, 2015. 100% incorporated. (compare text)

H.R. 1056: Nuclear Terrorism Conventions Implementation and Safety of Maritime Navigation Act of 2015

Introduced on Feb 25, 2015. 100% incorporated. (compare text)

S. 1469: FISA Reform Act of 2015

Introduced on May 23, 2015. 56% incorporated. (compare text)

History

Apr 28, 2015
 
Introduced

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

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Apr 30, 2015
 
Ordered Reported

A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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May 8, 2015
 
Reported by House Committee on the Judiciary

A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions.

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May 13, 2015
 
Passed House (Senate next)

The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next.

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May 23, 2015
 
Failed Cloture in the Senate

The Senate must often vote to end debate before voting on a bill, called a cloture vote. The vote on cloture failed. This is often considered a filibuster. The Senate may try again.

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Jun 2, 2015
 
Passed Senate

The bill was passed by both chambers in identical form. It goes to the President next who may sign or veto the bill.

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Jun 2, 2015
 
Enacted — Signed by the President

The President signed the bill and it became law.

H.R. 2048 (114th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 2048. This is the one from the 114th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 114th Congress, which met from Jan 6, 2015 to Jan 3, 2017. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

“H.R. 2048 — 114th Congress: USA FREEDOM Act of 2015.” www.GovTrack.us. 2015. December 3, 2022 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr2048>

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.