House Set to Consider Two FISA-related Bills on December 12

On December 12, 2023, the House will reportedly vote on the House Judiciary Committee’s (HJC) bipartisan Protecting Liberty and Ending Warrantless Surveillance Act as well as the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s (HPSCI) FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act under seldom-used “Queen of the Hill” rules, which dictate that the bill to receive the most votes will be the bill that is referred the Senate for consideration. This tees up the two bills to go toe-to-toe—and for Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, the choice is clear: HJC’s Protecting Liberty Act must be the one to prevail.

Renowned FISA expert and FISA Court Amicus Marc Zwillinger has just announced¹ that the HPSCI bill would “significantly expand" Section 702 by requiring a greater number of U.S. businesses to assist the government in warrantless surveillance. By compelling these businesses to produce the data they collect, Zwillinger states that they effectively turn “data centers, colocation providers, business landlords, shared workspaces, or even hotels” into vectors for information collection. This is an unacceptable expansion of warrantless surveillance practices that would only serve to disproportionately harm communities of color. Additionally, the minimal proposals this bill puts forth would not address virtually any of the most serious known abuses of Section 702, including wrongful searches for communications of members of Congress, “tens of thousands” relating to “civil unrest,” protestors, January 6 suspects, members of Congress, and 19,000 Congressional donors.

In contrast, HJC’s bipartisan Protect Liberty Act would reauthorize section 702 while also enacting robust reforms. It would require the federal government to obtain a warrant before searching through 702 collected data for Americans’ communications, it would close the data broker loophole, and it would strengthen judicial oversight. Currently, the Protect Liberty Act is co-sponsored by more than 20 members of the House, including Representatives Biggs, Nadler, Jordan, Lofgren, Davidson, Jayapal, McClintock, and Jacobs.

Advancing Justice | AAJC urges lawmakers to cast the following votes:

•  NO, FISA Reform and Reauthorization Act (HPSCI bill)
•  YES, Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act (HJC bill)

We are no strangers to the fact that warrantless surveillance takes a greater toll on vulnerable communities and communities of color. Allowing the HPSCI bill to advance over the HJC bill would perpetuate this system of inequity and fail to truly meet this moment for real reform.