Wyden Statement on Revelation of Major Compliance Problems With FISA Section 702 Surveillance

Wyden Statement on Revelation of Major Compliance Problems With FISA Section 702 Surveillance

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today released the following statement in response to new revelations of major compliance problems with the federal government's use of surveillance authorized by Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

"A few weeks ago, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found major compliance problems related to the surveillance law known as section 702. These compliance problems are directly related to Americans' Constitutional rights," said Wyden, who is the longest-serving member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"The compliance problems are bad enough, but, incredibly, rather than fix them, the Trump Administration is considering appealing the court ruling so that they never have to. This is a highly aggressive and unusual move indicative of an administration that would exploit every angle to expand its surveillance at the expense of Americans' rights.

"Instead of addressing these problems, opponents of reform are going to try to jam a straight reauthorization of section 702 through Congress next week, while the American people are still in the dark. That's unacceptable. This court ruling needs to be declassified so that Americans can understand what the Trump administration is actually up to. And Congress must vote for real reforms to protect Americans' rights."

Congress is expected to debate reauthorization of FISA Section 702 before its expiration on April 20. The law authorizes surveillance of foreigners' communications if they could possess intelligence value to the U.S., but it also sweeps up vast amounts of Americans' communications in the process. Those communications are searched without a warrant or any court oversight, in a clear end-around the Fourth Amendment.

Wyden and a bipartisan group of House and Senate members have introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act to create strong new protections for Americans' rights, while also reauthorizing Section 702.

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