Key Vote YES on the Massie Amendment to H.R. 5293 to End Warrantless Surveillance of Americans

As one of our over 5.7 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask them to vote YES on the Rep. Massie (R-Ky.), Lofgren (D-Calif.), and Poe (R-Texas) amendment to H.R. 5293, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2017, if the amendment is allowed to be debated on the House floor. The amendment would require the NSA and other intelligence agencies to follow due process and obtain a warrant to collect the communications of American citizens. We urge the House Rules Committee to make this important amendment in order so it can be debated and voted on by the House. If the amendment is made in order, it is expected to be considered in the House this week.

Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act was written to only allow the government to collect the communications of foreigners, but a large quantity of American communications are scooped up with them. By prohibiting backdoor spying, this measure would represent a step forward in the battle to secure privacy and security in the face of unconstitutional surveillance. House passage of this amendment would set the stage for next year’s expiration of Section 702.

The Massie-Lofgren-Poe amendment also prohibits government agencies from requesting that U.S. companies build security vulnerabilities into their hardware or software in order to make it easier for the government to access them. This amendment, which has passed the House twice, is needed to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Please contact your representative and ask them to vote YES on the Massie-Lofgren-Poe amendment to H.R. 5293 if it is made in order. FreedomWorks will count the vote on this bill as a Key Vote when calculating our Congressional Scorecard for 2016. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon, President and CEO, FreedomWorks