Failure to renew spy program would be ‘devastating,’ FBI chief says – By Eric Tucker (The Associated Press) / Dec 5, 2023
FBI Director Christopher Wray called Tuesday for the reauthorization of a U.S. government surveillance tool set to expire at the end of the year, warning Senate lawmakers that there would be “devastating” consequences for public safety if the program is allowed to lapse.
At issue is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of targeted foreigners outside the United States. Law enforcement and intelligence officials see the program as vital to combating terror attacks, cyber intrusions, espionage and other foreign threats.
The program, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is due to expire at the end of this month unless Congress votes to reauthorize it. But Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike have balked at renewing the program in its current form, recommending a slew of reforms in competing legislative proposals that are aimed at better safeguarding civil liberties and that are jockeying for support in the coming weeks.
