'Absolutely Critical': Flood Sounds Alarm on Expiring FISA Surveillance Provision

by John Gage

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

Congressman Mike Flood warned it is “absolutely critical” that Congress reauthorizes Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after his colleagues blocked a five-year extension last week and only approved a 10-day extension.

“It is absolutely critical that we get this done tomorrow,” Flood said Sunday on a call with reporters. “I don’t want to sound dramatic about this, but the President of the United States has stated that three-fourths of the intelligence that he gets relies on our ability to collect intelligence from digital sources like email and texting and communications with nefarious actors.”

“We cannot let this go past Monday — this is absolutely critical to the national security of our country. This is not about Democrats, this is not about Republicans, this is about us as Americans, making sure that our defense agencies, the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Administration, and all of these groups have access to the intelligence we’ve been used to,” he added.

Flood said the FISA 702 provision, which allows intelligence agencies to gather and analyze overseas intel on counterterrorism without a warrant, is one of the key reasons the U.S. has not had a “mass casualty” terrorist event since 9/11. The program has been criticized for allowing intelligence agencies to collect communications between Americans and foreign targets.

Trump has been working with congressional leadership over the past week in an attempt to extend the authorization of the provision despite what he said was the “illegal abuse” of FISA to spy on his presidential campaign.

A full extension failed after House Freedom Caucus members urged that “greater protections” be put into law. “We understand and agree with the president that we need 702 authority to go after bad guys abroad,” Texas Congressman Chip Roy said. “We’re fighting for greater protections.”

Following the vote late Friday night, Republican Representatives Thomas Massie and Lauren Boebert celebrated the blocking of the five-year extension, claiming the “deep state” was behind attempts to get the law extended.

Additionally, most Democratic representatives opposed the measure, with some citing constitutional and privacy concerns. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the provision was causing a “constitutional and civil rights crisis.”

“We have a huge amount of problems with warrantless surveillance, wiretapping against American civilians, and we need to do our job to make sure that their rights are protected,” she said.

Following the vote on Friday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he believed lawmakers were “close” to coming to a deal on FISA.

“There’s some nuances with the language and some questions that need to be answered, and we’ll get it done,” he said. “FISA is a critical national security tool. It’s also a very complicated piece of legislation, and what we’re trying to do is thread the needle of ensuring that we have this essential tool to keep Americans safe but also safeguard our constitutional rights, and making sure that the abuses of FISA in the past are no longer possible.”

John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.