Press Release

FreedomWorks Condemns Rep. Adam Schiff’s Decision to Urge Rep. Nadler to Cancel House Judiciary Hearing on FISA Reform

02/26/2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In response to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s, decision to cancel its hearing today on FISA reform at the behest of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Jason Pye, FreedomWorks’ Vice President of Legislative Affairs, commented:

“The job of the intelligence committees was always supposed to be to hold our nation’s intelligence agencies accountable to their legal and constitutional boundaries. Yet even after a litany of disclosures that have shown millions of innocent Americans being subject to surveillance, the very idea that the Judiciary Committee might produce a bill that would address some of these problems was apparently too much for Chairman Schiff today.

“Our Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted government intrusion are not a bargaining chip. If Chairman Schiff wants to pull serious reform off the table, then maybe it’s finally time that we let these problematic portions of the Patriot Act expire.”

Tags FISA, FISA reform, government surveillance, Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler

Blog

FreedomWorks' Member of the Month for August 2020: Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio)

BY Josh Withrow

FreedomWorks is proud to honor Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) as our member of the month for August 2020. Representing the corridor of Ohio along the Indiana border north of Cincinnati and west of Dayton and Columbus since 2016, Davidson’s predecessor in Ohio’s 8th Congressional District was none other than former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio). Unlike Boehner, Davidson has not only been a 100 percent vote on FreedomWorks’ scorecard for over 4 years, he has been out front leading on several fronts to protect our liberties from the government leviathan.

08/07/2020

Press Release

FreedomWorks Statement in Response to House Democrats’ Decision to Pull FISA Legislation

BY Peter Vicenzi

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In response to President Trump’s threat to veto the USA FREEDOM Act Reauthorization Act, H.R. 6172, and the subsequent withdrawal of the bill from consideration in the House, Jason Pye, FreedomWorks' Vice President of Legislative Affairs, commented:

05/28/2020

Blog

Hope on the Horizon for FISA Reform

BY Daniel Savickas

On March 15, the authority for Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act formally expired. This is one of the provisions that spawned the Edward Snowden leaks back in 2013 and drew the American people’s attention to the scope of abuses perpetrated by the intelligence community. Though some reforms have been made, many in Congress still stand by the program despite the revelations.

05/21/2020

Press Release

FreedomWorks and Allied Organizations Deliver Coalition Letter to House Leadership Urging Support for FISA Reform via Daines-Wyden Amendment

BY Peter Vicenzi

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On Monday, the ACLU, Demand Progress, and FreedomWorks released a coalition letter with over 50 organizations signing that demands that House leadership add language to require a warrant for accessing Americans’ internet search and browser history to the FISA reauthorization bill that was sent to them by the Senate. Jason Pye, FreedomWorks' Vice President of Legislative Affairs, commented:

05/18/2020

Press Release

FreedomWorks Statement in Response to Passage of Lee-Leahy FISA Reform Amendment

BY Peter Vicenzi

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Following the passage - by an overwhelming bipartisan majority - of an amendment sponsored by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to increase the involvement of amici curiae in FISA court proceedings and to require that the government disclose exculpatory evidence in such proceedings, Jason Pye, FreedomWorks' Vice President of Legislative Affairs, commented:

05/13/2020

Press Release

FreedomWorks and Allied Groups Deliver Nonpartisan Letter to Senate Demanding FISA Reform

BY Peter Vicenzi

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ahead of an expected vote in the Senate on amendments to reform expired FISA surveillance authorities, a coalition of over 30 groups from across the political spectrum, led by FreedomWorks, Demand Progress, and the ACLU, joined together on a letter to the Senate demanding strong reforms to protect their constituents’ civil liberties.

05/11/2020

Press Release

FreedomWorks Statement in Response to FISA Extension Deal

BY Peter Vicenzi

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In response to the deal reached by the Senate to extend the recently expired Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorities for another 75 days, Jason Pye, FreedomWorks’ Vice President of Legislative Affairs, commented:

03/16/2020

Blog

"We All Stand Vulnerable": Mike Lee Champions Real Reform to the Federal Government's FISA Spying Power

BY Jason Pye

Three provisions of the Foreign International Surveillance Act (FISA) will expire on Sunday. The expiration of these provisions isn’t a surprise, but Congress has treated it as such because of its proclivity for governing by crisis. Another issue that has reverberated in the debate over the reauthorization of these provisions is the attempt by congressional leadership to shut out the voices of privacy hawks in Congress.

03/13/2020

Blog

Deliberate Assaults on Our Constitution and We the People

BY Ted Abram

John Solomon in Just the News and Sara Carter in SaraACarter.com have independently concluded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) knew that there was no improper collusion between Trump or his aides with Russia. Through extensive requests for documents created by the FBI and DOJ it is virtually certain that these organizations knew there was no collusion shortly after Trump’s inauguration in early 2017. Thus, all the congressional investigations and the Mueller investigation were most likely attempts by government agents and their political allies to cover-up wrongful spying and unmasking for political advantages in the 2016 election. This is one of the worst deliberate assaults on our Constitution and We the People in American history.

03/13/2020

Press Release

FreedomWorks Praises Sen. Mike Lee's Stand for the Fourth Amendment

BY Peter Vicenzi

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This afternoon, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) offered a series of proposals on the floor of the Senate to allow votes on a number of bi-partisan amendments to the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act, H.R. 6172. Each request was promptly objected to and blocked by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Jason Pye, FreedomWorks’ Vice President of Legislative Affairs, commented:

03/12/2020