01.17.18

Bipartisan Support for Critical Foreign Surveillance Legislation

‘It is no secret that the world remains dangerous. Terrorist groups remain as intent today as they did on September 11, 2001 on harming Americans and those working with us overseas. As the tragedies of that day become a more distant memory, we cannot grow lax and deny our defense and intelligence communities the tools and resources they require to prevent future attacks. I look forward to renewing the bipartisan consensus on this issue and voting to reauthorize this important provision soon.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding Senate consideration of the House-passed Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA):

“The Senate will soon vote to reauthorize important provisions of the FISA Amendments Act. This includes Section 702, one of the most important tools used by our national security community to combat terrorism and keep Americans safe. It gives our law enforcement and intelligence community the ability to collect communications from foreign terrorists, on foreign soil, who wish harm on America and our allies. This capability is absolutely vital to the success of defense and intelligence operations.

“To be absolutely clear, Section 702 does not allow the targeting of American citizens. Nor does it permit the targeting of anyone – of any nationality – who is known to be located here in the U.S. Five years ago, Congress reauthorized the title with overwhelming bipartisan support. Today, it is time to do so again.

“It is no secret that the world remains dangerous. Terrorist groups remain as intent today as they did on September 11, 2001 on harming Americans and those working with us overseas. As the tragedies of that day become a more distant memory, we cannot grow lax and deny our defense and intelligence communities the tools and resources they require to prevent future attacks. I look forward to renewing the bipartisan consensus on this issue and voting to reauthorize this important provision soon.”

Related Issues: Homeland Security