Take Action: Tell Congress to STOP the biggest expansion of government surveillance since the Patriot Act >>
Right now, government agencies are exploiting legal loopholes to secretly spy on hundreds of thousands of Americans without obtaining warrants – targeting people of color, protestors, and political activists in particular. [1]
John, thousands of Common Cause members like you spoke out against this government surveillance last month – but instead of listening to public outcry, Congress is trying to make a bad problem even worse!
Despite its misleading title, the “FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act” wouldn’t bring any meaningful reform, and would instead give agencies like the CIA and FBI unprecedented access to our personal information. That’s why experts are calling this the biggest expansion of government surveillance in the U.S. since the Patriot Act. [2]
We must act NOW to defeat this blatant attempt to expand government surveillance, and urge Congress to pass REAL reform. Contact your Member of Congress today >>
John, you and I shouldn’t have to risk being exposed to secret government surveillance just for exercising our rights to free speech and protest. The health of our democracy depends on these fundamental rights being respected.
For too long, law enforcement agencies have gotten away with violating our privacy by exploiting a loophole in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act – which as the name implies, was passed to allow government agencies to investigate foreign terrorist threats, NOT spy on Americans!
They’ve abused this loophole to secretly access our personal communications, real-time location information, internet activity, and more – all without warrants or ANY oversight! They have used this to gather information on religion, sexual orientation, health, and political affiliations – opening the door to discriminatory surveillance based on personal information. [3]
And right now, instead of reining these abuses in, Congress is using their “FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act” to give government agencies even more access to our private information!
We must speak out NOW in support of real reform like the bipartisan Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA) and the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act (PLEWSA), which would close these loopholes and protect Americans from government surveillance and racial profiling.
If you agree Congress must act to STOP government agencies from spying on Americans, contact your House Representative today >>
I hope I can count on you to speak up today, John. The health of our democracy depends on it.
Thanks for all you do,
Raelyn Roberson, Media & Democracy Campaigner
and the team at Common Cause
[1] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/fisa-section-702-civil-rights-abuses
[2] https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/fisa-reform-and-reauthorization-act-biggest-expansion-government
[3] https://epic.org/odni-report-on-intelligence-agencies-data-purchases-underscores-urgency-of-reform/
