Wyden Statement on FISA Debate Agreement
Deal guarantees Senate will vote on Wyden amendment to prohibit warrantless collection of internet browsing records
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued the following statement on the Senate agreement today to a short-term extension of expiring surveillance authorities in exchange for an agreement to consider amendments. The first amendment, offered by Senator Wyden, would prohibit warrantless collection of web browsing and internet search history. A second amendment provides for independent oversight of FISA by granting the amicus access to everything the FISA Court is doing, a key reform that was included in Senator Wyden’s bipartisan Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act.
“Under this agreement the Senate will have an opportunity to debate whether the government can conduct digital tracking of Americans without a warrant. Everyone who was concerned about the government collecting their library records, or seeing who you called, should be terrified that the government can grab your internet browsing history without a warrant. That’s wrong, and my amendment prohibits that practice. And I strongly support my colleagues’ amendment to add independent oversight of FISA, which has had bipartisan support for many years and will finally be considered.”
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