Dear  john ,

 

I hope you and your family were able to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse this past Monday. While North Carolina wasn’t in the path of totality, about 80% of the sun was still covered in our area on Monday afternoon. The next time a total solar eclipse will pass over the continental U.S. will be in 2045 – a long time to wait! 

 

This past week, Congress returned to Washington, and it was quite a busy week indeed.

 

The Deep State Expands Ability to Spy on You 

 

The Constitution is clear. If the feds want to look at your communications, they should get a warrant. It shouldn’t be different than when the authorities want to search your property or review your physical documents. 

 

The swamp monsters, as they always do, instead voted to trample on the Constitution and violate your rights.

This past week, my colleagues who value civil liberties and I temporarily derailed the House’s Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization process when it became apparent that the Swamp designed the process to squash any attempt to add warrant requirements. In essence - the deck was stacked to ensure warrantless spying on Americans – and to extend the current authority to do so for five years. 

 

However, I joined 18 of my colleagues in voting to block floor consideration of the first attempt at the FISA reauthorization bill, allowing for further negotiations. Rep. Matt Gaetz cut down the authorization to two years, which will give President Trump the ability to reform FISA when he is back in the White House.

 

When this version of the bill was brought to the floor, I hoped to be able to support it with an amendment to require a warrant. However, after the Biggs-Jayapal amendment to require a warrant for queries of US persons failed in an unprecedented 212-212 vote, I voted against the legislation.

Americans have a fundamental right to be free from being spied upon by their government, and warrantless searches under FISA violate that in every way.

Last, 86 Republicans and 126 Democrats sided with the Biden administration to bless the Deep State spying on you without a warrant. 273 members voted for the final passage of the legislation, despite the denial of that protection. Astonishingly, other amendments passed that dramatically expanded the intel state’s powers under FISA. 

We’ve seen rampant abuse of FISA from a weaponized federal bureaucracy, and the American people have had enough. Unfortunately, the uniparty Deep State betrayed them once again. More freedom fighters needed in Washington.

READ: Bishop Stands Against Expansion of Warrantless Surveillance

Weaponization Symposium

This past Tuesday, I had the privilege of speaking at the Heritage Foundation’s Symposium on the Weaponization of the U.S. Government.

The Censorship Industrial Complex has been working overtime to ensure that they can play the same dirty tricks and election interference this year that they did in 2020. 

 

Sunlight is the best disinfectant – and I will continue to expose and investigate these schemes to protect the First Amendment. 

 

I also spoke to the Daily Signal podcast about the ratcheting up of the Deep State’s weaponization efforts:

 

LISTEN: Weaponization of Federal Government Is Growing, This Congressman Warns

Chaos at the Border

 

Next week, we will watch the Senate to see if they do their duty and hold the constitutionally required impeachment trial of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

 

He’s violated his oath and the Constitution in numerous ways, as I have detailed in this newsletter and my public remarks.

 

WATCH: Secretary Mayorkas is a danger to every American.

 

I also recently convened a hearing addressing one particularly egregious way that Biden and Mayorkas violate our immigration laws – abusing parole authorities to bring millions of illegals into the US heartland. You can read my recent op-ed on the depth of the problem with the Federation for American Immigration Reform below.

We will host our annual Service Academy Day on April 20^th, 2024 from 10am-12pm. The event will be held at Porter Ridge High School in Indian Trail, NC. It’s a great honor to be able to nominate candidates to our Service Academies each year, and I look forward to meeting and interviewing this year’s applicants. If you are interested in applying, this is a great event.

 

Representatives from each service academy and members of my staff will be in attendance. 

 

Votes last week

• H.R. 7888 - FISA reauthorization (Passed)

• H.R. 524 - To amend the Coastal Barrier Resources Act to create an exemption for certain shoreline borrow sites, as amended (Passed)

• H.R. 2560 - Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance Act of 2023, as amended (Passed)

• S. 382 - Puyallup Tribe of Indians Land Into Trust Confirmation Act of 2023 (Passed) 

• H.R. 3250 - National Museum of Play Recognition Act (Passed) 
  
  

 

Sincerely,

Rep. Dan Bishop

Member of Congress

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