More than 50 lawmakers are urging congressional leaders to avoid linking a soon-to-expire surveillance program to a massive defense policy bill.
Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), two skeptics of government surveillance, spearheaded this letter, which comes weeks before the year-end deadline of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Section 702 Surveillance Reauthorization May Get Slipped Into ‘Must-Pass’ NDAA
— PrivacyDigest| @PrivacyDigest@[email protected] (@PrivacyDigest) November 28, 2023
Congressional leaders are discussing ways to reauthorize Section 702 surveillance, including by attaching it to the National Defense Authorization Act, Capitol Hill sources… https://t.co/PwUXLLRpie
Section 702 is a law that allows intelligence agencies to collect communications of targeted foreigners. It also may lead to targeted surveillance of Americans’ private communications, which privacy advocates consider a run around the Fourth Amendment’s requirement for a warrant to search Americans’ communications. The law will expire at the end of 2023.
“If Section 702 is to be reauthorized for even a single day, it must be through standalone legislation subject to robust, open debate and amendment,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter. Breitbart.
Matt Gaetz posted that he had had an assurance from the Speaker on this issue.
I love the folks at FreedomWorks – but this isn’t true.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 28, 2023
I spoke to @SpeakerJohnson and while there is still work to be done to hammer out the legislation, the plan is to run it as a SINGLE SUBJECT stand-alone bill. https://t.co/RuJQR0TgF9
We urgently need congressional leaders to tell the public they will stand up for the privacy of their constituents and oppose any Section 702 reauthorization in the National Defense Authorization Act. It’s time to fix FISA NOW!