Utah News Dispatch
Utah delegation warn about FISA ‘abuse’ as U.S. House approves extension
As the U.S. House of Representatives approved a two-year extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, members of Utah’s delegation warned about the government’s ability to spy on citizens. (Getty Images)
As the U.S. House of Representatives approved a two-year extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, members of Utah’s delegation warned about the government’s ability to spy on citizens.
The act “regulates certain types of foreign intelligence collection including certain collection that occurs with compelled assistance from U.S. telecommunications companies,” according to the National Security Agency.
The bill passed in a largely bipartisan vote of 273-147, with Utah Reps. Blake Moore and Celeste Maloy voting in favor and Reps. John Curtis and Burgess Owens opposing it.
The agency relies on these authorizations to get foreign intelligence. Some lawmakers argue the program allows the country to become aware of threats, but others believe that the Government “shouldn’t have more authority to spy on American citizens.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Before Friday’s vote, the House had rejected a bill amendment that dictated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation must obtain a warrant from a supervisor or an attorney before surveilling communications that involved American citizens. That motion failed on a tied vote of 212 to 212.
Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, believes the system has been abused over the years, as the FBI has used the authorization “hundreds and hundreds of times to spy on Americans,” he said in a video shared on social media.
“Everybody knew that it needed to be revised. It didn’t have enough penalties in it and it wasn’t clear enough and it was being used to spy on Americans. Everybody agreed with that,” Curtis said. “The problem came down to how much leeway we give our intelligence agencies, the FBIs of the world, to look into people’s lives.”
Because the amendment to issue warrants failed, Curtis said he didn’t approve of the FISA extension bill.
“If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of government not looking into our lives,” he explained.
Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, said that holding agents accountable for “abusing Americans” is one of her top priorities.
“I am disappointed that certain amendments didn’t make it into the final bill, but I’ll work with my Senate colleagues to secure even more safeguards,” she said.
Rep. Blake Moore, who supported the bill, called it “a vital set of 56 long-overdue reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.”
He explained that he voted against the warrant amendment because it would establish “an unprecedented super warrant requirement for lawfully collected data on foreign nationals.”
For Moore, law enforcement should be able to analyze foreign intelligence, even if it’s collected in the United States. Requiring courts to authorize such warrants would be “logistically impossible,” it would kneecap counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts, and represent a burden to taxpayers, he said.
“For years, federal courts have ruled that Section 702 (of FISA) collections do not violate the Fourth Amendment or restrict American constitutional rights because they specifically target foreign nationals abroad who are not protected by the U.S. Constitution to begin with,” Moore said in a statement. “The U.S. government already needs a warrant and probable cause to collect intelligence and investigate a U.S. person’s data, and if Section 702 reveals that a foreign terrorist network is communicating with a U.S. citizen by phone and they want to investigate further, a warrant is required for that too.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who has spoken in opposition of the bill as it’s written, said the debate isn’t over, as the extension still needs to go to the Senate for approval.
Though FISA expires next Friday, the act can remain in operation until April 2025, as the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved certifications and procedures to keep the program while legislators debate the extension.
“FISA can’t save us from the national-security threats of an open border,” Lee wrote on his X account. “A warrant requirement wouldn’t destroy the national-security benefits of FISA.”
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, didn’t comment publicly about his vote on Friday, but he said in December, following his vote against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024, that the Biden administration had abused FISA, compromising American liberties.
“From labeling parents as terrorists to conducting hundreds of thousands of warrantless ‘backdoor’ searches into Americans’ private communications, the White House continues to violate the fundamental rights enshrined in our founding documents,” Owens said in a statement last year. “Although the National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 includes priorities I have long championed as a member of Congress, it lacks the much-needed reform for Section 702 of FISA to rein in Biden’s abuse of power.”
The post Utah delegation warn about FISA ‘abuse’ as U.S. House approves extension appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
Read Article at Utah News Dispatch
