Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a sweeping overhaul of the once-secret National Security Agency program that collects records of Americans’ phone calls in bulk. Democrats and a handful of Republicans who supported the measure failed to secure the 60 votes they needed to take up the legislation. The vote was 58-42 for consideration. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, worked hard to defeat the bill, which had the support of the Obama administration and a coalition of technology companies, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. “This is the worst possible time to be tying our hands behind our backs,” McConnell said before the vote, expressing the concerns of those who say the program is a vital tool in the fight against terrorism. Both senators from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, supported it. Read more http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nat...nsa-program/Gc3xL9FwSuaqHUqrIqA9XM/story.html
