November 30, 2017

Wyden Statement on House Intelligence Committee Bill To Reauthorize 702 Surveillance Program

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued the following statement on the House Intelligence Committee’s bill to reauthorize the expansive surveillance authority under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act:

“The House Intelligence Committee version of the FISA 702 bill does nothing to protect the rights of innocent Americans.  The court order described in the bill would, based on information made public by the DNI, apply to the results of exactly one of the thousands of warrantless backdoor searches of Americans currently being conducted.  The provision on the use of 702-derived information is also simply a codification of the status quo, which allows the government unfettered authority to use information on Americans in investigations and civil and administrative procedures, and to use that information as evidence in criminal cases that are unrelated to national security.

“I do, however, commend the House Intelligence Committee for at least publicly releasing its bill prior to the mark-up and strongly urge the Senate Intelligence Committee to do the same in the future.”

Wyden, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and a total of 15 senators, support the USA RIGHTS Act to protect Americans’ liberties, while giving intelligence agencies the tools they need target foreign threats. Learn more here.