Crapo, Risch Advocate for FISA Fixes

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) released the following statement after voting to prioritize national security by reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) provisions with several improvements for two years to better protect American citizens.

“FISA needs more improvement. With global threats increasing every day, it is paramount for our defenses to remain strong in order to protect Americans.  This FISA reauthorization creates new, tighter restrictions and timelines to better audit this program and protect Americans’ privacy while ensuring this critical tool can continue to be used to target foreign terrorists,” said Crapo and Risch.  “A two-year sunset will enable us to enact additional reforms to FISA sooner.”

This FISA reauthorization:

• Decreases the reauthorization period by 60 percent—from a five-year period to two years;

• Institutes new checks and safeguards on queries;

• Mandates annual audits on many FISA programs;

• Prohibits politically-derived information from use for warrants obtained by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court;

• Imposes new criminal and financial penalties for misuse of FISA programs; and

• Increases congressional oversight.