Durbin Announces Bipartisan Legislation to Reform FISA Section 702 on the Senate Floor

Floor Speech

“In just a few weeks, an important but controversial surveillance authority known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will expire. This extraordinary authority was initially presented to Congress as a temporary emergency counterterrorism tool more than 15 years ago. As is often the case with temporary emergency authorities, Section 702 is now used for a wide range of foreign intelligence purposes—from countering Russia to stopping the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

I have had demonstrations of this Section 702 authority, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is a valuable tool for collecting foreign intelligence. But this authority raises serious constitutional concerns as it allows access not just to communications by those who are foreigners, but also to the vast databases of American’s communications without the customary search warrant required by the United States Constitution… the FBI has imposed new limits on the authority of FBI agents to search the communications of Americans, but even after implementing these reforms, the FBI still conducted over 200,000 warrantless searches of Americans in just one year—more than 500 searches of Americans per day.

Existing legislative proposals of the House and Senate go too far for some and not far enough for others. That’s why today I’m introducing what I hope will be a compromise bill that tries to bridge this divide to protect both our security and our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. The Security and Freedom Enhancement Act, or SAFE Act, would enhance our national security by reauthorizing Section 702 for four more years while also protecting Americans from warrantless surveillance.

The SAFE Act, which I’m introducing, is a sensible, moderate compromise between more robust reform proposals that address a wide range of surveillance concerns and bills that reauthorize Section 702 without adequately addressing these concerns. I know that compromise does not come easy when it comes to this policy, but a reasonable middle ground that protects our national security and the rights of the American people is possible. The SAFE Act is my offer and compromise to achieve that goal. With the April 19 sunset of Section 702 fast approaching, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this compromise for the good of the American people.”

Source