Free Republic

Watch the clip of Ted Cruz's speech at the link.Sen. Ted Cruz says that if the federal government were operated competenty, they would have caught the Ft. Hood attacker, the Boston bombers, and the San Bernardino shooters. "We know that his wife came in to this country on a fiance visa, the exact same visa vetting the Obama administration promises will keep us safe from ISIS terrorists among Syrian refugees." "We know the female jihadist contacted ISIS, and publicly using social media proclaimed her alleigance to ISIS. How about the federal governemnt, the Obama administration, spend less time trying to...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has ruled the National Security Agency may temporarily resume its bulk collection of Americans' domestic phone call records, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The program lapsed on June 1, when Section 215 of the Patriot Act expired. Congress revived that provision the following day with a bill called the Freedom Act, which said the provision could only be used for bulk collection for six months.

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to advance the USA Freedom Act Sunday evening, but too late to prevent Sen. Rand Paul from being able to force a short-term expiration of Patriot Act surveillance authorities at midnight. The overwhelming vote Sunday came after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., threw in the towel on advancing any short-term extensions of the Patriot Act authorities under the continuing objections of Paul, the fellow Kentuckian he has endorsed for the presidency. The Senate voted 77-17, far above the 60-vote threshold to advance the bill. Several more steps are required, however, before a vote on final passage,...