US Senate approves extension of 'warrantless surveillance' bill
The US Senate has voted on a bill to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows American intelligence agencies to conduct "warrantless surveillance," for another two years. The bill was passed following the vote.
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The bill to extend Section 702 of FISA for another two years, which had previously been approved in the House of Representatives, was voted on in the Senate. The bill was passed with 60 senators voting "yes" against 34 "no" votes.
BIDEN TO SIGN
While the bill requires President Joe Biden's signature to become law, the White House has announced that Biden will sign the bill without delay.
The bill in question has sparked controversy regarding how US intelligence agencies implement Section 702, which allows for the "warrantless" monitoring and tracking of phone calls and correspondence of American citizens who are allegedly linked to foreign targets during the surveillance of those foreign entities.
In the initial vote in the House of Representatives, an amendment added to the bill that would have required a warrant for surveillance resulted in a 212-212 tie and failed. Subsequently, that provision was removed, and the bill, returning to its original "warrantless surveillance" form, was passed with 259 "yes" votes against 128 "no" votes.
On the other hand, some members of Congress had raised the issue that intelligence agencies, including the FBI, have repeatedly used their oversight powers "inappropriately" and abused this authority, arguing that Section 702 of FISA should be reformed.