US House Votes Decisively To Extend Controversial Surveillance Powers

Originally enacted in 1978, the act outlines the lawful procedure for collecting foreign intelligence.

Critics argue that the 702 program vacuums up the information of millions of US citizens who communicate with those individuals, and that the USA government should not be allowed to specifically search for that USA person information or use it against Americans in court without a warrant.

Some conservative, libertarian-leaning Republicans and liberal Democrats attempted to persuade colleagues to include more privacy protections.

The House of Representatives instead passed legislation reauthorizing the FISA in a 256-164 vote.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to “defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation”, called the House’s reauthorization “deeply disappointing”, adding, “b$3 ecause of these votes, the surveillance will continue to operate in a dark corner, routinely violating the Fourth Amendment and other core constitutional protections”. “The Senate should reject this bill and rein in government surveillance powers to bring Section 702 in line with the Constitution”. I’ve never voted for a flawless bill in this House.

Its approval is widely supported by the intelligence community who consider its powers vital, but it is opposed by privacy advocates and civil liberties groups.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to clarify Trump’s tweet, but he posted a follow-up less than two hours later, after speaking on the phone with House Republican leader Paul Ryan. To ensure a smoother ride, Senate majority whip John Cornyn (R-TX) suggested that the House bill might get attached to the omnibus spending bill that will need to get approved by January 19th to avoid a shutdown, which is coincidentally the same date as the expiration of 702’s current authorization. By law, its records and opinions can be kept secret.

But the president’s mixed messages sent shock waves through House Republicans, who were gathered for a regular conference meeting when the first of the president’s tweets came out.

The information becomes part of a database that the FBI or other federal law enforcement agencies could then search to find evidence that Americans are engaged in domestic crimes that have nothing to do with terrorism. That’s not what we’re doing today.

“The president fully supports the 702 and is happy to see that it passed the House today”, she said. On Thursday morning, President Trump published a confusing tweet that seemed to question his administration’s position on the matter.

Another change included in the bill temporarily stops the collection of communications that mention a surveillance target, but aren’t to or from that target.

Early on Thursday, Sanders released a statement opposing an amendment that would’ve increased limits on surveillance allowed under the law.