This is Renegate Talk Radio.

Aeneate Talk Radio.

An absolutely indispensable tool that Congress can give us in our fight against foreign adversaries is the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign

Intelligence Surveillance Act. It is critical in securing our nation and we are in crunch time

with our 702 authority set to expire next week. So let me be clear, failure to reauthorize 702 or gutting it with some new kind of

warrant requirement would be dangerous and put Americans' lives at risk. Section 702 of the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was enacted to make it easier for the government

to address foreign terrorist threats. Targeting Americans is prohibited, but intelligence agencies

have used Section 702 to spy on hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. And this week,

it's looking to get a lot worse. Elizabeth Goitin of the Liberty and

National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice does a great job of explaining it and

sounding the alarm. Buried in the Section 702 reauthorization bill passed by the House on Friday

is the biggest expansion of domestic surveillance since the

Patriot Act. Under current law, the government can compel electronic communication service providers

that have direct access to communications to assist the NSA in conducting Section 702 surveillance.

Companies like Verizon and Google must turn over the

communications of targets, which officially must be foreigners overseas, but this has been abused

to spy on Americans. By changing the definition of electronic communications surveillance

provider, an amendment offered by House Intel committee leaders

and passed by the House vastly expands the universe of entities that can be compelled to assist

the NSA. If the bill becomes law, any company or individual that provides any service whatsoever

may be forced to assist in NSA surveillance,

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