U.S. Senator Steve Daines issued the following statement after voting against reauthorizing the federal government’s surveillance powers under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA):
“While there’s no question that the United States should collect intelligence on suspected terrorists who are overseas and may be communicating with individuals in our country, the federal government should not be using foreign intelligence powers to collect Americans’ personal data. Yet time after time we have seen FISA abused and Americans’ information unacceptably accessed without a warrant.”
“I voted against reauthorizing Section 702 because it failed to fully protect Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights. With additional reforms we could have protected the privacy of Americans and our national security, but this bill fell short of meeting these requirements.”