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Tipton: NSA program renewal unlikely

Congressman answers questions at Durango library
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, who held a town-hall meeting Tuesday at Durango Public Library, says President Barack Obama made a mistake in the hasty exit from Iraq by not listening to military advice.

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton said Tuesday there’s little chance a “clean” renewal of controversial government surveillance programs would pass the House of Representatives.

The Patriot Act provisions are set to expire Sunday night, and President Obama warned lawmakers Tuesday to reauthorize the surveillance.

“I don’t believe that would pass through,” Tipton said of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s push to renew the provisions without changes.

The legislative showdown is the latest twist over National Security Agency surveillance revealed almost two years ago by Edward Snowden, an NSA contractor.

Tipton said federal authorities should “get a warrant” to access telephone records held by private providers. Tipton said the House-passed bill that would keep phone records in corporate hands, rather than the NSA, was “not a perfect bill but something reasonable.” The bill has been stymied in the Senate.

“The haystack is still there,” Tipton said. “It may be with Verizon, it may be with AT&T. We don’t own those records – they do.”

Tipton, R-Cortez, was in Durango on Tuesday for a town hall held at Durango Public Library attended by 27 constituents. The House is on a brief Memorial Day break.

He faced a range of questions from educational reform to the Islamic State to whether the government can be trusted.

One constituent asked what the U.S. can do to fight ISIS, the terrorist group that has gained territory in Iraq.

Tipton replied, “I believe the president made an error, a mistake. He didn’t listen to the military. And I understand the fear – we’re still in Japan, we’re still in Germany.”

Tipton said Obama should listen to the “experts” – U.S. military leaders – and enlist allies in the Middle East.

“This is not an American problem,” Tipton said. “This is a problem for the Middle East instead, ISIS and ISIL.” ISIL is an alternate acronym for the same group.

Brad Blake, a business owner and La Plata County commissioner, said unemployment costs are crippling small businesses. Blake said he paid $11,000 for quarterly unemployment tax this year.

“We continue to have two years of unemployment (benefits), and it is killing small businesses,” he said. “As a small-business person, we’re looking for some help out here.”

Tipton said more jobs are the long-term solution to unemployment costs.

Tipton also criticized the Affordable Care Act, saying President Obama’s health-care law is anything but affordable.

“Private competition actually does work,” he said. “If we unleash that, we’ll get a better product and a more affordable product.”

cslothower@durangoherald.com



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