President Barack Obama discussed surveillance concerns with key...

his backing of more transparency. “In particular, if the President believes we need a bulk collection program of telephone data, then he needs to break his silence and clearly explain to the American people why it is needed for our national security,” Goodlatte said. “The President has unique information about the merits of these programs and the extent of their usefulness,” information “critical to informing Congress on how far to go in reforming the programs” and with civil liberties at stake. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pointed to his own surveillance bill. “During today’s meeting, I and several others emphasized the need for meaningful changes to our government’s surveillance programs, like those outlined in the USA FREEDOM Act,” Leahy said in a statement, referring to his bill that would end bulk phone surveillance. “Minor or cosmetic changes simply will not restore Americans’ confidence.” Leahy said the recommendations of Obama’s surveillance review group are consistent with the USA Freedom Act. Leahy said Obama can enact many of these recommendations now, although Leahy will still “push for support” of his own legislation in the Senate. Goodlatte said he also wants to make sure tech companies are not disadvantaged in relation to their foreign competitors. House Judiciary has “primary jurisdiction over the legal framework of these programs,” Goodlatte said. Press aides for Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., were not yet prepared or planning to issue statements about the meeting, they told us Thursday afternoon. The White House, in its readout, confirmed the attendance of the above four lawmakers as well as Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Senate Judiciary ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Mark Udall, D-Colo., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., Reps. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. Sensenbrenner authored the House version of the USA Freedom Act, now under consideration in House Judiciary. “This meeting was an opportunity for the President to hear from the Members about the work they have been doing on these issues since they last met and solicit their input as we near the end of our internal review,” the White House said. Obama is expected to announce changes to surveillance practices later this month. “All three branches of government have said the NSA has gone too far,” Sensenbrenner said in a statement. “This problem cannot be solved by presidential fiat. Congress needs to pass the USA FREEDOM Act, a bipartisan legislative solution closely aligned with the suggestions by the president’s panel.”