A group of 14 Republican members of the U.S. Senate recently filed a bill to make Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) permanent before it is set to expire later this year.
Specifically, Section 702 applies to surveilling communications of non-U.S. persons located outside of the country for valid counterterrorism purposes only.
In a release, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said the section was used to thwart numerous terror plots in the past, including a conspiracy to bomb the New York City subway system in 2009.
“After two more international terrorist attacks this week, we remember how vital it is that our intelligence community legally pursues information on foreign adversaries, counterintelligence concerns, and terrorists’ plans and intentions,” U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) said.
Lankford said that there were a number of new checks and balances for the program from all three branches of government and that Congress should reauthorize the program so [the United States] could stay on the front lines as it proactively combats terrorism around the world.
“Section 702 also includes extensive privacy protections for American citizens,” U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said. “We can’t handcuff our national security officials when they’re fighting against such a vicious enemy.”
Lankford and Cotton were joined by U.S. Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Jim Risch (R-ID), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Cornyn (R-TX), John McCain (R-TX), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Thune (R-SD), and David Purdue (R-GA) in cosponsoring the bill.