The legislation would extend for two years the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. It now goes to President Biden's desk to become law.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., looks over his notes during a meeting with Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal as Congress moves to advance an emergency foreign aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 18, 2024.
"If you miss a key piece of intelligence, you may miss some event overseas or put troops in harm's way," Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said."You may miss a plot to harm the country here, domestically, or somewhere else. So in this particular case, there's real-life implications."
Still, officials had said that court approval shouldn't be a substitute for congressional authorization, especially since communications companies could cease cooperation with the government if the program is allowed to lapse. "This reauthorization of Section 702 gives the United States the authority to continue to collect foreign intelligence information about non-U.S. persons located outside the United States, while at the same time codifying important reforms the Justice Department has adopted to ensure the protection of Americans' privacy and civil liberties," Garland said in a statement Saturday.
The six amendments ultimately failed to garner the necessary support on the floor to be included in the final passage.