| Friend,
For the past four months, we’ve been on the verge of gaining significant protections against government spying: As the deadline for reauthorizing the government surveillance authority known as Section 702 approached, a bipartisan coalition championing key reforms grew in strength and numbers. Last week, many of you joined the effort by calling your representatives and urging them to protect our civil liberties and enact these reforms to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Unfortunately, the House rushed through a reauthorization and expansion of Section 702. We were devastated to see the failure of an amendment — on a tied 212–212 vote — that would have required the government to get a warrant before searching the communications of people in the United States.1
Yesterday, the Senate advanced the same bad bill past a key procedural hurdle, and could vote to officially pass it before the weekend.
Congress appears to be capitulating to intelligence and law enforcement agencies like the FBI and the NSA — the same agencies with documented histories of abusing Section 702 authority to surveil protesters, immigrants, political candidates and even journalists.2
So this is it. We need you to call NOW or it might be too late to stop a reauthorization of domestic spy powers without key reforms. All you have to do is dial (202) 688-0628 and our call tool will connect you with your lawmakers.
Here’s a sample script to get you started: | Hello! My name is (First Name). I'm a constituent calling to ask the senator to oppose sweeping surveillance under Section 702 of FISA.
Revisions to 702 authority must include amendments to close the backdoor-search loophole that enables warrantless surveillance of people in the United States and Americans abroad. |
We must do everything in our power to block the expansion of Section 702 and insist on common-sense reforms that have been on the table for months. The privacy rights and civil liberties of every person in the United States depend on it.
Thank you,
Jenna and the rest of the Free Press Action team
freepress.net
1. "House Votes to Extend Government Spying Authority, Violating the Privacy Rights of Everyone in the United States and Americans Abroad," Free Press Action, April 12, 2024 2. “The US Isn’t Just Reauthorizing its Surveillance Laws – It’s Vastly Expanding Them,” The Guardian, April 16, 2024  |
