John – Congress is poised to enact the biggest expansion of government surveillance power since the Patriot Act. We can’t let them do that.

The Brennan Center is racing against the clock to convince the Senate to vote against a law that would force American businesses to work as spies for the National Security Agency — and we need your help.

• Last Friday, the House has passed a surveillance bill with a radical amendment that would give the federal government authority to compel U.S. citizens and companies to give the government access to communications equipment such as Wi-Fi routers.
• Under current law, only “electronic communications service providers” such as Verizon and Google are required to comply with this surveillance.
• With this new amendment, businesses large and small — everything from house cleaners to plumbers to IT service providers — would be subject to this coercion.

The potential for abuse is staggering. The Senate must prevent it from becoming law. John, will you send a message to your Senator and demand they block this from happening? >>

The NSA already has far too much power to spy on American citizens. But instead of reining in warrantless surveillance, lawmakers in the House voted to expand it. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) rightly said this provision “represents one of the most dramatic and terrifying expansions of government surveillance authority in history.”

The Biden administration denies that it has any intention of making full use of this sweeping authority. And House Intelligence Committee members portrayed it as a “narrow” fix to address their inability to compel assistance from a single provider. But there is nothing “narrow” about this measure, and nothing to stop this administration — or a future one — from using the power to its fullest.

Thank you for your advocacy,
The Brennan Center for Justice