House to take up bill to reauthorize crucial US spy program as expiration date looms

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is set to consider a bill next week that would reauthorize a surveillance program that U.S. officials consider vital to national security but that critics say raises privacy concerns.

The action comes shortly before the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on April 19. It was up for reauthorization last year but was instead granted a short-term extension as part of a massive defense policy bill that passed the House in December.

Though the prospect for passage is uncertain because of scrambled political alliances and deep resistance from civil liberties advocates, senior administration officials said in a call with reporters on Friday that they believed the bill preserved the most critical aspects of the spy program while also including guardrails that don’t undermine its purpose and effectiveness.

Section 702 permits the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of non-Americans located outside the country for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence.

U.S. officials have said the tool, first authorized in 2008 and renewed several times since then, is crucial in disrupting terror attacks, cyber intrusions and foreign espionage and has also produced intelligence that the U.S. has relied on for specific operations, such as the 2002 killing of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

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