Did you know that the federal government can spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant?
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes the intelligence community to collect and analyze electronic communications of non-citizens outside of the United States. However, data and communications of American citizens are often captured during this process. This warrantless surveillance has been happening for decades, allowing FISA to become ripe for abuse.
In fact, the FBI improperly used FISA authorities more than 278,000 times in 2021 alone to spy on Americans – including January 6th protesters, political donors, and even a U.S. Congressman.
Notably, FISA is also the same law the FBI abused to illegally spy on President Trump’s 2016 campaign, triggering the sham Russia collusion scandal.
Clearly, Congress must protect Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights and eliminate the intelligence community’s corruption by prohibiting unconstitutional, warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens before Section 702 is reauthorized this month.
Thankfully, my conservative colleagues and I are fighting to do just that.
This week, the House is expected to consider legislation to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Given the intelligence community’s nefarious motives and shameless scare tactics, some lawmakers may attempt to secretly craft legislation behind closed doors and defeat commonsense reforms. Yet, as with any bill, it’s imperative that members openly debate and vote on both bill text and amendments.
My conservative colleagues and I are fighting for a transparent process in order to ensure FISA reauthorization is handled properly and lawfully. Please know that I refuse to support any measure that fails to include necessary reforms – such as requiring the federal government to obtain a warrant for all U.S. person searches.
After all, the Fourth Amendment is not a suggestion; it is the law of the land.
 
 
