A House of Representatives Democrat wants Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., under 24-hour surveillance after the Florida Senator called for a permanent extension of the U.S. surveillance program.

In an op-ed, Rubio acknowledged the new Republican-led Congress and called for an expansion of the current Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Rubio said, "I urge my colleagues to consider a permanent extension of the counterterrorism tools our intelligence community relies on to keep the American people safe."

Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., however, responded to Rubio's recommendation by calling for the U.S. Intelligence Community to start a 24-hour per day monitoring of Rubio.

"If Senator Rubio believes that millions of innocent Americans should be subject to intrusive and unconstitutional government surveillance, surely he would have no objections to the government monitoring his own actions and conversations," Polis said.

Rubio also wrote for the U.S. government to "implore" for U.S. technology companies to abide by authorities in order to "better track terrorist activity" and monitor their communications.

"Senator Rubio is asking for American technology companies to 'cooperate with authorities,' so I believe he will have no objection to authorities being given access to his electronic correspondence and metadata," Polis said. "Maybe after his 2016 strategy documents are accidentally caught up in a government data grab, he'll rethink the use of mass surveillance."

Polis noted surveillance on Rubio will not require additional legislation, citing previous senators have already been included in the intelligence agency's monitoring.

Rubio did not comment on Polis' statement. The Florida senator did comment on being named chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights and Global Women's Issues. Rubio is also a member of the Subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy; the Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism; and the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy.

"As chairman of the subcommittee, I will promote bold measures that improve U.S. economic and security interests by addressing the region's growing calls for transparent institutions, access to quality education, private sector competitiveness, and respect for political and economic freedom for all," Rubio said.

According to a statement from Rubio's office, he will hold his first hearing for the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee on Feb. 3, and it will "examine" the Obama administration's policy changes toward Cuba and human rights "implications" in the island.

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

Related