House lawmakers introduced a new bill Tuesday to reauthorize the government’s chief foreign intelligence snooping authority for four more years, but added new transparency requirements and limits to the program.
The new bill extends Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which targets communications of foreigners outside the U.S. — though Americans can be scooped up if they are communicating with a target.
Section 702 is set to expire Dec. 31 without new action by Congress.
Reaching for bipartisanship, Republicans agreed to forgo new constraints they’d sought on “unmasking” of Americans who get snared by the government when it’s collecting communications of foreign targets.
But the bill they announced Tuesday would limit use of data on Americans in criminal cases to certain serious crimes such as homicide, kidnapping or crimes against children.
Top security officials have asked Congress to renew Section 702 in perpetuity, saying it’s one of the most important anti-terrorism tools.
But lawmakers have pushed back against permanent reauthorization and demanded more transparency and other limits, saying Americans’ rights need to be protected.
“There is a growing consensus — Republicans and Democrats — that you cannot have a permanent extension of 702 without reforms,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat, said Tuesday. “A couple weeks, we could live with that — but not a permanent one.”
The Section 702 issue has become entangled with other year-end business on Capitol Hill, including a new stopgap spending bill, action on the Children’s Health Insurance Program and a new disaster relief bill to pay for recovery from this fall’s hurricanes.
The new bill allows “abouts” collection, which is when the government scoops up communications that mention a target, even if he or she isn’t the sender or receiver. Abouts collection was halted earlier this year by agreement of the intelligence community and the secret court that oversees FISA law, after they said it was proving difficult to narrowly tailor. The new bill would allow a restart but only after Congress was given a 30-day heads-up.
The number of Americans whose data is scooped up would also have to be reported to Congress.
At least three different FISA reform bills cleared a committee this year.
A bill drafted by the Senate intelligence committee renewed Section 702 for seven years, while the House intelligence committee approved legislation to reauthorize the law for four years. Both implemented privacy reforms, such as reporting requirements and added restrictions.
The House Judiciary Committee’s bill renewed Section 702 for five years and imposed the most constraints of all, limiting how Americans’ communications can be used, and prohibiting collection of “abouts” communications.
Tuesday’s new bill appeared to most closely track the House intelligence committee’s bill.
It was unclear whether that went far enough to win over civil liberties advocates.
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