The    U.S. National Security Agency is planning no major changes in    its domestic telephone records collection program after a bill    to rein in those efforts failed in the Senate this week, the    agencys director said.  
    The NSA    will continue to collect U.S. telephone records in bulk, while        operating under some restrictions President Barack Obama    put on the program back in January, Admiral Michael Rogers, the    NSAs director, said during a House of Representatives hearing    on cybersecurity Thursday. The NSA would rather wait to see    what specific changes to the program Congress will require    before making major changes, he told the House Intelligence    Committee.  
    The NSA    had hoped to get direction from Congress in the short term, but    the agency may have to re-evaluate the telephone records    program if were unable to gain consensus in the window that    we thought, Rogers said. I dont have an answer to that in my    own mind.  
    The NSA    should take steps to end its bulk collection of U.S. phone    records even though the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would have    left the data in the hands of telecom carriers,     failed in the Senate this week, said Representative Adam    Schiff, a California Democrat. Theres nothing in statute that    requires the government to gather bulk data, so you could move    forward on your own with making the technological changes,    Schiff said. You dont have to wait for the USA Freedom    Act.  
    Theres    no reason for the NSA to wait for congressional approval to put    additional limits on the program if you think this is the    correct policy, Schiff added. Why continue to gather the bulk    metadata if [Obama administration officials] dont think this    is the best approach?  
    But    Rogers defended the phone records program, saying it has    provided valuable antiterrorism intelligence to federal    investigators.  
    The    program operates under court and congressional oversight, and    since January the NSA has needed approval from the Foreign    Intelligence Surveillance Court before querying the database of    collected phone records, he said. Obama in January largely left    the program intact while Congress debates it, Rogers    said.  
    I    dont think Ive heard the president or the [director of    national intelligence] say that the access to the data is not    of value, Rogers said. What I think Ive heard is, the    question gets to be who should hold the data.  
    The    public has several misconceptions about NSA surveillance    programs, said Representative Mike Rogers, the Intelligence    Committees chairman and a Michigan Republican. The NSA is not    penetrating U.S. computer networks, he said.  
    The    NSA is not on American domestic networks, but the Russians, the    Chinese, the Iranians, and multiple other bad actors are,    Representative Rogers said.  
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NSA director: No changes in telephone record collection coming