McClellan Statement on Vote on FISA Reauthorization

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) issued the following statement after she voted against S.1318 to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act:

“When Congress enacted Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2008, lawmakers intended to expand the government’s ability to conduct surveillance on suspected foreign terrorists. Since then, Section 702 has been exploited to spy on American citizens. Protestors, journalists, campaign donors and government officials have been subjected to baseless backdoor searches that violate the original intent of the legislation and their civil liberties. Additionally, loopholes and a lack of comprehensive privacy legislation allow federal agencies to purchase the data of private citizens from data brokers and conduct searches without warrants, circumventing the Fourth Amendment.

“Despite opposition from both sides, Speaker Mike Johnson sought to jam a three-year reauthorization of FISA through the House without any reforms to protect Americans’ right to privacy. Last week, he tried to force a five-year reauthorization for a vote in the middle of the night and failed on a bipartisan basis. Today, he tried again. I voted no because the bill fails to provide critical measures to stop the widespread surveillance of Americans’ private communications data and does nothing to stop the ongoing abuse of FISA.

“The language of the Fourth Amendment clearly protects the people from unreasonable searches and seizures. Instead of upholding our constitutional rights, Speaker Johnson chose to bend the knee to the Trump Administration’s goals of conducting widespread, unchecked surveillance of the public. The vast majority of Americans across the political spectrum do not want FISA to be reauthorized in its current state. I oppose authorization without reforms to protect privacy rights and civil liberties from an Administration that seeks to weaponize these tools to target its political enemies.”