The U.S. House of Representatives delivered a clear message on Wednesday when it voted overwhelmingly to end the federal government's phone-metadata collection program first revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, USA Today reported.

Lawmakers approved the bipartisan USA Freedom Act in a 338-88 vote; the bill calls for phone records to be retained by telecoms and forces the NSA to obtain court orders from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to gain access to the companies' data, Wired detailed.

Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, outlined the urgency underlying Wednesday's vote, USA Today noted.

"As we speak, thousands -- no, millions -- of telephone metadata records are flowing into the NSA on a daily basis," Goodlatte recalled. "Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. (It) will not cease ... until Congress acts to shut it down," the representative added.

Privacy advocates have long attacked the metadata surveillance program, and in the wake of Snowden's revelations, even the White House said it was looking into alternatives to the current system of collecting Americans' phone records.

Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Congress had not authorized the program's bulk collection of metadata when it passed the USA Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

While seemingly benign, the data can reveal "civil, political or religious affiliations," as well as personal behavior and "intimate relationships," Judge Gerard Lynch wrote in his decision, according to CNN.

The USA Freedom Act now heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain because there has been no word on whether Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will allow the House-approved bill to come to a vote, USA Today said.

California Republican Devin Nunes, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, told the newspaper that both he and the Kentucky senator would prefer to keep the NSA's surveillance powers as they are.

"As threats to Americans at home and abroad increase by the day, now is not the time to be weakening our national security, with all the tragic consequences that may follow," Nunes argued.