A group of Republican senators introduced legislation on Tuesday to reauthorize a key federal surveillance program that House GOP lawmakers are threatening to block.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is among 14 GOP lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee who are sponsoring a permanent reauthorization of Section 702 and other provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows the National Security Agency to monitor telephone communications and Internet data generated by foreign nationals, but it can also sweep up U.S. citizens if they are in those communications. The provisions expire at the end of September.
Republicans in the House recently told the Washington Examiner they may not support advancing the reauthorization of the law because they believed it was used to for political purposes by Obama administration holdovers who then improperly leaked classified information to the media that was damaging to the Trump administration.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the House lacks the votes to pass the measure, which is typically opposed by Democrats and Republicans over privacy concerns.
More Republicans will oppose it because of the leaked information, which led to the ouster of Mike Flynn, who had been serving as Trump’s national security adviser. Republicans want to find out who leaked the information about Flynn’s phone calls with Russian officials before Trump officially took office.
In a statement, Cotton said the provision is needed to combat the threat of terrorism in the United States.
“This program has provided our national-security agencies vital intelligence that has saved American lives and provided insights into some of the hardest intelligence target,” Cotton said. “Section 702 also includes extensive privacy protections for American citizens. We can’t handcuff our national-security officials when they’re fighting against such a vicious enemy. We’ve got to reauthorize this program in full and for good, so we can put our enemies back on their heels and keep American lives safe from harm.”
