Heinrich Statement on FISA Reauthorization

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement after voting to support legislation to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Without Congressional action, this national security authority would have expired at midnight tonight.

“As a member of the Intelligence Committee, I’ve learned the vital role that FISA’s Section 702 authority plays in bolstering our nation’s ability to effectively fight terrorism, disrupt foreign cyberattacks, impede drug trafficking, and protect U.S. troops. For our national security and the safety of the American people, it is simply too important of a tool to let it expire. Still, there are reforms needed to ensure this law focuses on the communications of foreign targets abroad, and that it is not inadvertently used in a way that threatens the privacy of innocent Americans. I will continue fighting for real reform to ensure necessary privacy safeguards are put in place.”