Last month, I wrote an article about how the tyrannical assault on liberty has intensified in the Age of Trump as he and the GOP work hand-in-hand with Democrats to strip away our God-given rights in the name of safety.
Together, the players on Team Unibrow have accomplished more to destroy liberty since 2016 than George W. Bush and Barack Hussein Obama managed to accomplish in their 16 combined years in office by advancing a plethora of proposals that giving the government an Orwellian expansion of surveillance power in America.
At the time of that article, Trump had just made a demand that Apple give the government backdoor access to iPhones, a request that has been denied by the tech giant.
We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements. They will have to step up to the plate and help our great Country, NOW! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2020
However, if a bill currently working its way through the House ever becomes law, Trump and future presidents will have unlimited access to information available from internet and telecommunications companies. The Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act of 2020 just passed out of the House Committee on Homeland Security and is on its way to the full House for a vote.
The House version of the bill — there’s a GOP-sponsored Senate version too — gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) greater power to subpoena internet and telecommunications companies for information on subscribers, including names, addresses, and telephone numbers.
Ever hear of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)? This agency was created by Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress in November 2018. Operating under the umbrella of DHS, CISA is “responsible for protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats.”
According to one of the sponsors of the Cybersecurity Vulnerability Identification and Notification Act, Rep. James Langevin (D-RI), the bill allows DHS and CISA to share any information they gather with others when deemed necessary to prevent a cybercrime.
“The Internet was not created with security in mind, and in a world that is more interconnected each day through technology, critical systems used to deliver essentials like water and power are at risk of being compromised. This legislation is based on a simple premise we’ve all become familiar with: if you see something, say something. We are taking a proactive step that gives CISA the ability to say something when they see something.
“While CISA analysts work diligently to monitor and uncover risks, current policy impedes them in their efforts to warn at-risk critical infrastructure operators. There have been numerous instances where CISA has not been able to identify the owner of a vulnerable system and warn them of their exposure.”
The “leaders” of the House Homeland Security Committee are optimistic this new legislation will pass, not because it’s a good bill, but because it will be buried in an overall “DHS authorization” package that will be introduced in the next few months. In other words, Congress will have to pass the bill before we get to see what’s in the bill.
Now, if you’re wondering if Trump will sign this bill, all you need to know is he supports giving DHS more control of cybersecurity, and he wants government’s power to spy on Americans expanded and made permanent.
By the way, tomorrow I’ll be posting Part II about another tyrannical attack on liberty that took place while you weren’t looking. I hope you’ll check it out!
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative.
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