A group of House Republicans will get another chance to sink the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s warrantless spying with a vote to reconsider the bill’s passage.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, wrote a letter to GOP colleagues Monday morning rallying support to kill the legislation that passed the chamber on Friday.
She filed a motion to reconsider the vote moments after the bill passed. House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner, Ohio Republican, responded with a motion to table Ms. Luna’s motion.
A recorded vote on the motion to table is scheduled for Monday.
The FISA spying power will expire Friday if Congress doesn’t act. The motion to reconsider delayed sending the bill to the Senate for final approval.
In her “dear colleague” letter, Ms. Luna slammed FISA as a program that “has been abused to spy on American citizens in direct violation of American liberty and the 4th Amendment.”
“I urge all Members of Congress to vote NO on the motion to table the motion to reconsider,” she said.
She singled out the “56 Members of Congress” who voted to pass the bill after supporting a failed amendment to add a warrant requirement when the FBI searches for Americans’ data in the FISA database.
A majority of the House agreed with intelligence officials that it would be too dangerous to make the government take that step when moving to thwart national security threats.
Drama surrounded the warrant proposal vote, which failed after a tied 212-212 vote. The bill passed on a 273-147 vote.
However, privacy hawks got the FISA reauthorization reduced to two years instead of five years before Congress again debates the spying power.
The FISA fight focused on Section 702 which allows the government to collect electronic data — texts, phone calls, emails — from foreigners living abroad. Americans’ communications also can be scooped up if they are communicating with foreign targets.
Problems arise when the FBI wants to run an American’s identity against the data.
The bill’s backers said adding a warrant would have blinded the government at a time when worldwide threats are increasing.
“What they want is a warrant to search the inbox and outbox of Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda and the Communist Chinese Party when they are communicating with people in the United States,” said Mr. Turner. “This is dangerous.”
Opponents pointed to a history of abuses, including searches run on American protesters and political campaign donors.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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