Washington DC – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after voting against final passage of the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
“FISA Section 702 is an important tool to ensure the Intelligence Community and our law enforcement agencies have the authorities they need to keep the American people safe from foreign threats—there’s no question of that. However, we need to balance the needs of our national security and the rights of the American people—it’s a false choice to say that we cannot uphold both. The House-passed FISA Section 702 bill simply does not go far enough to deliver the protections for privacy and civil liberties that I believe are necessary. I have strong concerns that this expansion of FISA Section 702 authorities would allow for increased abuse and misuse of the law—infringing on the rights of Americans here at home. While I am disappointed to see this legislation head to the President’s desk without the additional reforms I support to protect Americans, I will continue to work with my colleagues to prioritize fundamental privacy and civil rights while still meeting critical national security needs.”
Senator Murray has consistently fought to rein in the collection of Americans’ personal data and communications, and to subject the Intelligence Community to greater oversight and accountability. This includes voting contra the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 and against reauthorization in 2012. Senator Murray also worked to secure provisions to the USA FREEDOM Act to prohibit the bulk collection of data in 2015, voted against the FISA Amendments Act’s reauthorization in 2017, and voted against the reauthorization of FISA in 2020.
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