On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to oppose the Protecting Against International Terrorism Act, S. 2939. Introduced by Senators Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), this bill would reauthorize Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and the “roving wiretap” and “lone wolf” provisions under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that are each currently set to expire on March 15, 2020. The bill would renew these surveillance authorities through December 15, 2027 while largely ignoring the constitutional issues raised by how they have been used.

Four years after the passage of the USA FREEDOM Act, Section 215 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and its related “lone wolf” and “roving wiretap” provisions are back up for reauthorization. Section 215 is best known for being the portion of law used to justify the dragnet, warrantless mass collection of tens of millions of Americans’ phone call data, as revealed in 2013 by Edward Snowden. Although the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 did make some substantial advances in curbing warrantless mass surveillance of Americans, disclosures over the intervening four years have borne out concerns that it was an incomplete reform.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and senators and urge them to cosponsor the Ending Mass Collection of Americans’ Phone Records Act, H.R. 1942 and S. 936. Introduced by Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the Ending Mass Collection of Americans’ Phone Records Act would end the National Security Agency’s controversial call detail records program.

On Wednesday, FreedomWorks sent a coalition letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) signed by representatives from more than 30 organizations against H.R. 1. This legislation would have the effect of nationalizing elections, make the Federal Elections Commission a partisan entity, and have a chilling effect on political speech. Signers to the letter include Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, Tim Chapman of Heritage Action, and David McIntosh of the Club for Growth. The text of the letter is below and a PDF of the letter and the signers can be found here.