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# 5 Politicians Standing Firm Against More Surveillance After Paris
- URL: https://ivn.us/5-politicians-standing-firm-against-more-surveillance-after-paris/
- Published: 2015-11-30T15:11:20.000Z
- Updated: 2022-10-19T06:08:11.000Z
- Author: Carl Wicklander
- Tags: News

Since the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, various mainstream news [outlets](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/20/politics/paris-syria-isis-surveillance-intelligence-politics/?ref=ivn.us) have [noted](http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/11/28/after-paris-us-political-shift-on-privacy-vs-security?ref=ivn.us) that the politics of surveillance have shifted. A shift would indicate that instead of rolling back surveillance policies in favor of more privacy, more invasive policies could be enacted.

U.S. Sen. **[Marco Rubio](http://ivn.us/tag/marco-rubio)** used the attacks to [accuse](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/17/marco-rubio-hits-ted-cruz-rand-paul-intelligence-g/?ref=ivn.us) fellow Republican presidential candidates **[Ted Cruz](http://ivn.us/tag/ted-cruz)** and **[Rand Paul](http://ivn.us/tag/rand-paul)** of forcing a "weakening of our intelligence-gathering capabilities" that ultimately "leaves America vulnerable." Yet despite this shift, there are still at least 5 politicians who remain consistent about surveillance after Paris.

### **1\. U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (MI-03)**

[On Twitter](https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/667127216107581440?ref=ivn.us), Amash, a noted critic of surveillance policies, wrote of Rubio's [support](http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/marco-rubio-tom-cotton-bill-delay/2015/11/18/id/702692/?ref=ivn.us) for a bill to extend the bulk collection of metadata that was a key provision of the Patriot Act:

> [~~@~~**marcorubio**](https://twitter.com/marcorubio?ref=ivn.us)[~~#~~**YesterdayIsOver**](https://twitter.com/hashtag/YesterdayIsOver?src=hash&ref=ivn.us)

### **2\. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-04)**

The Kentucky representative [told](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/paris-us-political-shift-privacy-security-35445910?ref=ivn.us) ABC News over Thanksgiving weekend how the immediate aftermath of a tragedy is the time when the government tries to capitalize on citizens' fears to expand its power:

> "Within six weeks of 9/11 they passed the Patriot Act. And it's only natural they would try to do the same thing this time."

### **3\. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (KY)**

Calling the argument that the Paris attacks required more surveillance "bullshit," Sen. Paul also [noted](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/11/19/rand%5Fpaul%5Fbullshit%5Fthey%5Fneed%5Fmore%5Fsurveillance%5Fafter%5Fparis%5Fattacks.html?ref=ivn.us) that surveillance policies of the past and present did not stop the Paris attacks:

> "They are collecting your phone records as we speak, they did not miss a beat, even though we voted on reform, all your phone records are being collected and stored in Utah. Did it stop the attack in Paris? No."

### **4\. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (TX)**

One of the candidates attacked by Rubio for opposing Patriot Act bulk collections, Cruz [responded](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/11/29/ted-cruz-attacks-marco-rubio-on-privacy-and-immigration/?ref=ivn.us) that his rival:

> "...is trying to respond to the criticism that he has received that he is not willing to protect the Fourth Amendment privacy rights of law-abiding citizens."

Separately, Cruz [posted](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/670658721219936256?ref=ivn.us) one of his endorsements on Twitter which noted his role in passing the USA Freedom Act:

> "\[Cruz\] will use every tool we have to win, but he will never betray the very Constitution we are sworn to defend."

Even before its passage, there was fierce [debate](http://ivn.us/2015/05/18/usa-freedom-act-doesnt-live-name-privacy-advocates-claim/) about how much [privacy](http://ivn.us/2015/09/21/despite-usa-freedom-act-fight-government-spying-far/) the Freedom Act provided Americans, but Cruz's positions have indicated that more surveillance is not the answer.

### **5\. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (OR)**

The Oregon Democrat has long been a critic of Washington's surveillance policies. Echoing some of the sentiments of Paul and Massie, Wyden [explained](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/11/16/paris-attacks-should-be-wake-up-call-for-more-digital-surveillance-cia-director-says/?ref=ivn.us) that broadly-defined powers are not even effective, which was also the case in France where an aggressive [surveillance](http://ivn.us/2015/11/16/rand-paul-edward-snowden-among-political-targets-after-paris-attacks/) [law](http://www.techtimes.com/articles/71651/20150724/surveillance-law-charlie-hebdo-france.htm?ref=ivn.us) was passed following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January:

> "While some people seem eager to seize on this crisis to resurrect failed policies of the past, the facts show mass surveillance doesn’t protect us from terrorist attacks."

*Photo Credit: [Brian A. Jackson](http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-180313p1.html?ref=ivn.us) / [shutterstock.com](http://www.shutterstock.com/?ref=ivn.us)*