Defending American Liberty Against Unchecked Surveillance
America’s founding generation took up arms not only over taxation but because they saw yielding rights for security as a poor trade. They preferred the risk of dying free to living under tyranny. The colonists opposed tyranny from afar. The British crown spied on their gatherings, searched their papers unjustly, and intercepted private correspondence.
Today, unchecked state authorities act like monarchs, prioritizing their ends over American liberty. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), made to track foreign threats, has turned into a domestic surveillance machine. It collects Americans’ communications secretly, bypassing the Fourth Amendment.
A court found the FBI improperly searched a foreign intelligence database 278,000 times over several years.
This issue calls for reflection as we near the 250th year since the Declaration of Independence. The rattlesnake on the Gadsden flag now warns: Don’t Spy on Me.
On June 12, Congress faces a deadline to renew Section 702 of FISA. Intelligence agencies want a reauthorization unchanged. Yet, Americans demand Congress to protect their liberty. Members of the House Freedom Caucus and Senate Steering Committee insist on reforms as the path to a renewal.
This stance doesn’t oppose national security. It rejects sacrificing liberty to unchecked power. First, address the broad scope given to ‘electronic communication service providers’. Two years ago, this surveillance tool widened to include any American’s communications. It now allows the NSA to demand data from any U.S. business with a computer.
This isn’t incidental but a wider reach on Americans’ communications. Former Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner cited this issue and vowed a solution. Congress has not acted yet.
Next, reveal the secrecy around FISA. Prosecutors impose endless gag orders on telecom firms to hide their surveillance reach. The “NDO Fairness Act” would introduce judicial review and limits on these orders. Americans deserve knowledge of data sought, even outside national security cases.
Furthermore, end government evasion of constitutional safeguards by buying data from brokers. This includes location data, communications metadata, and browsing history. Officials should seek a warrant. Normalized practices must not excuse evasion.
Most concerning are the millions of warrantless “backdoor” queries of Americans’ data. In 2021, under the Biden administration, there were nearly 3 million such searches, with no one held accountable. While our government should monitor threats abroad, searches on U.S. data need probable cause and judicial warrants, except for imminent threats.
Technology has evolved beyond what the Constitution’s framers imagined. However, its principles remain constant. A warrant was needed to intercept letters then, and so should be for emails now. The Constitution endures as technology evolves.
As Congress approaches the renewal deadline, it must refuse a rubber-stamp reauthorization. The warning is clear – Americans expect a fix.
Republican Rick Scott represents Florida in the U.S. Senate. He is a former governor of Florida.
Republican Keith Self represents Texas’s 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Andy Harris is a Republican representing Maryland’s 1st Congressional District.