Obama promises review of NSA spying program, possible reforms
By Philip Rucker and David Nakamura, Updated: Friday, December 20, 4:10 PM
President Obama said Friday that he would review the National Security Agency’s far-reaching surveillance programs over the holiday break and would make a “pretty definitive statement” in January about possible reforms.
Obama gave his clearest signal to date that he may end the NSA’s ability to collect and sift through millions of Americans’ call records, even if some of that capability is preserved through different mechanisms. He signaled that he may end the NSA’s collection and storage of millions of Americans’ phone records and instead require phone companies to hold the data.
More broadly, Obama indicated that his views on the viability of the NSA’s surveillance programs have changed significantly since they were publicly revealed in June. He maintained that he believed his administration has struck the right balance between intelligence gathering and privacy protection, but acknowledged that public concerns about the potential for abuse may now make it necessary to rein in NSA programs to restore trust.
“The environment has changed,” Obama said. He said it “matters more that people right now are concerned,” and added, “Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we necessarily should.”
At a 60-minute news conference concluding a troubling year in office, Obama again took personal responsibility for the disastrous rollout of his health-care law and expressed optimism that he could advance his agenda in 2014, beginning with immigration reform.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-concludes-tough-year-with-press-conference/2013/12/20/7840204c-6991-11e3-a0b9-249bbb34602c_story.html?hpid=z1
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