Published on April 15, 2024, 12:41 am

The Republican legislator who protested the ultimate approval of legislation that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is inciting her colleagues to unite in a last-minute endeavor to halt its enactment until significant alteration transpires.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), has actively called upon both Republicans and Democrats this weekend, soliciting them to oppose the reauthorization bill until a prerequisite for a warrant is incorporated. This measure aims to respond to concerns about potential FISA abuse and privacy threats.

“The attempt to dismantle the unconstitutional FISA isn’t over,” Luna conveyed publicly on social media.

“There’s another ballot taking place on Monday! I’ve reached out to all Republicans with this letter, which we’ll also dispatch to all Democrats. We need the support of at least 218 members opposing unauthorized surveillance of Americans.”

The same letter from Luna endorses an amendment proposed by Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ). His proposal stipulates a requirement for government officials wishing to perform U.S. person searches within data accumulated by foreign surveillance must obtain a warrant first.

Nonetheless, Biggs’ amendment has spurred controversial debates that cut across party affiliations. Detractors assert that it might undermine national security, resulting in its failure by a narrow margin in a tied vote of 212-212.

“The majority of my fellow Republicans voted in favor of my warrant requirement amendment,” Biggs stated publically via social media. “A total number of 86 sided with the Deep State. We need Republicans present in Congress who believe that citizens shouldn’t be surveilled by their federal government.”

Although the Biden administration has voiced its support for the reauthorization bill extending Section 702 for two more years while executing several FISA overhauls, it also expressed reservations against the motion necessitating warrant requirements.

Such an amendment would “prevent U.S. officials from examining essential information which intelligence services have legally collected, except under extremely limited and impracticable circumstances,” according to an official statement by the White House.

Congress and Biden have a deadline until April 19 to elongate Section 702, post which it might lapse.

Luna has specifically appealed to 56 members who voted in favor of the FISA bill after endorsing Biggs’ amendment. She urged them to resist Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner’s (R-OH) motion to defer her request to revisit the bill.

As Luna firmly asserted, lawmakers “must strive for the incorporation of the Biggs Amendment during this legislation’s final passage.”

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