Civil Liberty Advocates Threaten To Sink FISA Bill If No Votes On Searches, Data Collection

Civil liberties groups pushing to overhaul an anti-terror surveillance law are urging House leaders to allow votes on warrantless database searches and the government’s use of private data brokers when the law comes up for debate soon.

In a letter obtained by HuffPost , a coalition of 32 groups ranging from the liberal American Civil Liberties Union to the libertarian group FreedomWorks to the pro-privacy Electronic Privacy Information Center, fired the first shot in the newest faceoff over renewing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and its Section 702, which could come to the House floor as early as next week.

“Blocking off votes on critical issues that have been central to the past year’s debate over FISA would harm Americans’ privacy, as well as needlessly threaten Section 702’s future viability,” the groups told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). The letter was also sent to all House lawmakers.

The debate is expected to resemble the original plan for a February floor fight that never materialized . A base bill, called the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, would be open to amendment on the floor, with votes on a few amendments offered by each of the warring sides — a bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans seeking major changes to help protect Americans’ privacy, and a similarly bipartisan group favoring much smaller changes out of concern over terrorism and security.

“RISAA is carefully crafted to preserve the status quo, not to enact the serious privacy protections for which most Americans and members of Congress are calling. We therefore urge you to oppose Floor consideration of any legislation, including RISAA, that would