Jordan, Davidson oppose NSA program extension
GOP congressmen from area buck fellow Republicans.
When the Republican-controlled U.S. House last week approved an extension of a National Security Agency program that permits the agency to monitor phone calls and emails between foreigners abroad and Americans, Republicans Warren Davidson of Troy and Jim Jordan of Urbana were among the 164 lawmakers to vote no.
They were also the only two Ohio Republicans to oppose the measure. That put Jordan and Davidson in unusual company, aligned with liberal Democrats.
The bill, which now goes to the Senate where passage is expected.
Opponents say the mea- sure risks the civil liberties of Americans while back- ers insist the NSA needs the authority to prevent future terrorist attacks. The bill extends a law originally approved in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror- ist attacks in New York and suburban Washington.
In a floor speech during the debate, Davidson said “the foreign enemies of our country are not subject to the protections of our Constitution. American citizens, however are.”
He accused the bill’s back- ers of ignoring the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unreason- able searches and seizures. “It is your data that is at subject here,” Davidson said. “The Fourth Amendment does not change when com- munications shift from postal service ... to a database.”
The two Ohio Republicans supported an amend- ment that would have forced the federal government to seek a warrant before search- ing data for information on Americans. Fifty-six other Republicans joined Jordan and Davidson, but a coalition of 178 Republicans and 55 Democrats defeated the amendment.
The House then voted 256164 to pass the overall bill.
Trump signs opioid bill
Both Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Sen. Rob Port- man, R-Ohio, attended a cer- emony at the White House last week where President Donald Trump signed into a law a measure aimed at reducing the scourge of opi- oid addiction.
The bill, co-sponsored by Brown and Portman, is aimed at preventing fentanyl from being shipped in the country. The bill authorizes $15 mil- lion for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to obtain new screening devices and lab equipment to detect fentanyl shipments at ports.
“This law is about giving law enforcement the tools they need to keep fentanyl out of our country and off Ohio streets,” Brown said in a statement. “We must build on this bipartisan momen- tum and come together to start combatting the addiction epidemic like the public health emergency that it is.”
Kasich: Trump wrong to deport El Salvadorans
Gov. John Kasich, a poten- tial presidential candidate in 2020, assailed President Donald Trump’s decision to deport about 200,000 peo- ple from El Salvador who have been in the United States since 2001.
In an opinion piece in Friday’s New York Times, Kasich and Jeb Bush Jr., son of the former Florida governor, wrote that “it is wrong to potentially break up so many families that have for so long made the United States their home — legally and at our invitation.”
Kasich and Bush pointed out that “in the wake of the 2001 earthquake in El Salvador that claimed more than 1,000 lives and destroyed 100,000 homes, the United States allowed hard-hit families to live and work in America. This merciful act was one of many that America took to relieve the suffering of a natural disaster in one of the hemisphere’s most troubled, impoverished nations.”