House Intelligence Committee Announces Working Group to Reform Spy Powers

The House Intelligence Committee announced Wednesday its working group to reform what is referred to as the “crown jewel” for American intelligence agencies.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said they have selected the Republicans and Democrats who will be tasked with reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which will expire at the end of December.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a law that the federal government believes allows intelligence agencies to collect communications of targeted foreigners, will expire at the end of December unless Congress reauthorizes the controversial program. The American intelligence agencies’ collection of foreign communications may also lead to incidental bulk collection of American citizens’ information, which civil liberties advocates often say amounts to warrantless surveillance of Americans.

Turner said in a statement Wednesday:

The reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a top legislative priority for the House Intelligence Committee. Unfortunately, there have been significant and egregious abuses of Section 702 that have eroded the trust of the American people, putting FISA’s reauthorization at risk. I believe that the reauthorization of Section 702 is necessary to ensure the Intelligence Community maintains its ability to collect invaluable foreign intelligence to stay a step ahead of our adversaries, but corrections must be made to protect American citizens’ constitutional rights. Our FISA Working Group, led by Representative Darin LaHood, is committed to finding bipartisan solutions to reform the Intelligence Community’s foreign surveillance tools.

The members of the working group include:

• Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL)
• Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT)
• Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
• Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN)
• Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX)
• Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO)

Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-CT) said in a statement Wednesday:

FISA 702 is a powerful tool that the Intelligence Community uses every day to prevent terrorist attacks, disrupt cyber attacks, and gain unique intelligence insights on foreign targets. Allowing this critical authority to lapse would be deeply negligent and put our national security at risk. At the same time, it is our duty as Representatives to ensure that these authorities do not violate Americans’ constitutionally protected rights and to look at further reforms to protect those rights. The six members of this working group encapsulated the thoughtful, pragmatic, bipartisan approach that will be essential to tackling one of the most important issues facing this Congress.

LaHood serves as an important figure in the FISA reform dialogue, as he revealed during a March hearing that he was surveilled by the FBI:

I think that the report’s characterization of this FBI analyst’s action as a mere misunderstanding of the querying procedures is indicative of the culture that the FBI has come to expect and tolerate. It is also indicative of the continued failure to appreciate how the misuse of this authority is seen on Capitol Hill. And I want to make clear, the FBI’s inappropriate querying of a duly-elected member of Congress is egregious and a violation that not only degrades the trust in FISA but is viewed as a threat to the separation of powers.

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