Representatives Troy Nehls (R-TX) and Wesley Hunt (R-TX) shared rationales for their votes against the recent Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Section 702. On Wednesday the bill was killed by 19 House Republicans who claim the legislation would permit warrantless surveillance by the federal government and its agencies.
Rep. Nehls went as far as to say that this decision was “a dark day” for the country.
“Today is a dark day for America,” said Rep. Nehls. “It is no secret that the DOJ and the FBI have used and abused FISA to spy on not only the greatest president of my lifetime, Donald J. Trump, but spy on everyday Americans. I could not, in good conscience, vote to give our nation’s weaponized DOJ the power to mass surveil the American people without significant reforms, such as a warrant requirement.”
Furthermore, Rep. Hunt described the bill as legislation that does not “adequately address” unreasonable searches and seizures which are prohibited in the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
"I am firm in my belief that there should be a requirement that federal agents must obtain the proper warrants before deploying these intelligence activities to ensure they only target foreign persons and not American citizens," said Rep. Hunt. "This morning, as well as in December of 2023, I voted against the reauthorization of FISA as it did not adequately address this very concerning issue.”
Additionally, Representative Brian Mast (R-FL) offered reasoning for his vote against the bill as well.
“Section 702, in non-government terms, it’s the portion of FISA that gives unchecked power to the United States government to survey individuals without a warrant. It’s meant to survey people that are foreign,” said Rep. Mast. “These spy powers are used to target foreign nationals abroad with ties to terrorist groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah, but we know that these powers can also capture the information of private data of U.S. citizens.”
He continued, “Unfortunately, there have been some very bad actors in the federal government that have used these powers maliciously against Americans. Again, remember, this is a power that is supposed to be used solely against non-American citizens – people abroad. But people in the FBI decided, hey, we’re going to use it against Americans breaking the law. Still, nobody held accountable to this point.”
Representative Andy Biggs' (R-AZ) amendment – which would “require federal officials to get a warrant to see data from U.S. citizens in communication with foreign targets” – failed in the House with a vote tally of 212-212. The bill will be voted on again on Monday.
