Take Action: Tell Congress to SHUT DOWN dangerous government surveillance legislation >>
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 year – but instead of listening to public outcry, Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to make a bad problem even worse!
Despite its misleading title, the “Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act” that Speaker Johnson is pushing wouldn’t bring any meaningful reform, and would instead give agencies like the CIA and FBI unprecedented access to our personal information. The House may vote on this as soon as this week – so we must act NOW. [2]
Tell Congress: REJECT the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act and any other attempts to expand government surveillance >>
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 our religion, health, and political affiliations – opening the door to discriminatory surveillance based on personal information. [3]
That’s why with your help, Common Cause has been championing the bipartisan Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act – which would close these loopholes and protect Americans from government surveillance and racial profiling.
If you agree Congress must STOP Speaker Johnson’s legislation to expand government surveillance – and instead pass the bipartisan Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, take action today >>
I hope I can count on you to speak out today, John. The health of our democracy depends on it.
Thanks for all you do,
Ishan Mehta, Media & Democracy Program Director
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/reforming-intelligence-and-securing-america-act-designed-do-nothing
[3] https://epic.org/odni-report-on-intelligence-agencies-data-purchases-underscores-urgency-of-reform/
