Shenna Bellows in Salon.com

On Homeland Security: No spying on foreign leaders NOR on ordinary Americans

Q: Sen. Collins put out a statement saying that she's not aware of a justification for collecting intelligence on Chancellor Merkel, and that she would be telling the German ambassador that "it was wrong" for the administration to do that.

BELLOWS: We absolutely need to stop listening in on phone calls of allies like Merkel. But we also need to stop spying on millions of Americans.

Q: What about the comparative attention that those two kinds of surveillance get?

BELLOWS: It's certainly concerning to international relations to learn that we were spying on the phone conversations of some of our closest allies. But it's equally important to address the issue of spying on millions of ordinary Americans.

On Homeland Security: Snowden was a whistle-blower, not a criminal

A: We need more protection for whistle-blowers so that we can have an open conversation about what's appropriate. His revelations have been a catalyst for a national conversation that we really need to have.

Q: Should he be punished?

A: Daniel Ellsberg wrote an Op-Ed about how his revelations in the Pentagon Papers would not have been possible under current law that prohibits whistle-blowers from coming forward. And the ACLU and other civil liberties groups have been involved in Snowden's defense. We have too much secrecy surrounding these programs.

Q: Do you believe that Snowden should be either charged with a crime or detained by the US government?

A: I do not think that speaking out about matters of national import should be criminalized. Snowden is absolutely a whistle-blower and should be treated as such. He revealed government illegality and abuse of authority and we as a country depend upon truthful information about what the government is doing

On Technology: "Total Information Awareness" undermines our democracy

A: I support measures to repeal the Patriot Act and prohibit the NSA from engaging in bulk data collection. The federal government should only be gathering information about Americans when there are specific and articulable facts that are actually relevant to a terrorism investigation.

Q: Are there categories of foreign leaders that you think it is appropriate for the US government to be surveiling?

A: I think we need a paradigm shift in our surveillance--in our approach to surveillance. For the last decade, policymakers in Washington have trampled on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, creating a constitutional crisis. This paradigm of "Total Information Awareness" undermines our democracy and threatens international relations. We need a Church Committee-style investigation into the nature and extent of our surveillance practices. And we need meaningful reforms to restore our constitutional freedoms and restore our trust.