The Senate voted Thursday to pass a bill reauthorizing a controversial National Security Agency (NSA) program allowing warrantless surveillance of foreign suspects outside the U.S. for another six years.
Legislation to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed by a vote of 65-34, receiving support across party lines.
The bill offered minimal changes to the authority which allows intelligence community (IC) officials without a warrant to access Americans’ communications which may have been picked up incidentally during foreign surveillance operations.
NSA, FBI and IC officials have pointed to 702 as a key tool for thwarting national security threats.
“Today’s vote to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is crucial to allowing us to continue to gather intelligence on foreign terrorists overseas and foil potential plots against Americans abroad and at home,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a statement following the bill’s passage.
Debate was limited on the bill following a Wednesday cloture vote which passed by a vote of 60-38.
Both the chairman and ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), had spent the week urging their colleagues to support 702 re-authorization.
“This bill will help us to fulfill our most important duty as senators: keeping Americans safe. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has been reviewed time and again by both the Courts and Congress, and has been found to be not just constitutional, but vital to our country’s defense. I look forward to the President signing this legislation without delay,” said Burr in a statement following the bill’s passage.
Privacy officials have expressed concern about loopholes in the authority that allow the FBI to conduct domestic surveillance operations by accessing 702 collected communications without a warrant. Senate leadership did not include amendments pushed by some senators, including Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), intended to address lingering concerns.
“It explicitly authorizes warrantless searches of law-abiding Americans and allows for the collection of communications entirely among innocent Americans who reference the wrong foreigner, and gives the attorney general unchecked power to decide when the government can use what it finds against us, to pick just three of its most troubling provisions,” said Wyden.“And while today’s vote is a disappointment, the battle to protect Americans from unnecessary government spying isn’t over. Americans across the political spectrum have made clear that liberty and security are not mutually exclusive. Americans won’t stop fighting to end this abuse of power, and neither will I.”
The bill is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump on Friday.