FreedomWorks Statement on the House Vote on NDAA and Extension of Warrantless Surveillance

Washington, D.C. – Following the passage of the conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY 2024 in the House, Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks president, commented:

“Once again, Congress used a ‘must-pass’ bill to ram through a policy completely unrelated to the underlying bill. We’ve said in the past that it’s disappointing. Disappointing doesn’t begin to describe it. We’re furious. FISA is a program through which the FBI accessed the records of more than 200,000 Americans collected through 702 without a warrant. Congress just reauthorized that program, with no reform, until April. We know that the April deadline isn’t real because the certifications that the FISA Court will issue before the expiration will be good for 12 months.”

“The stage is set for Congress to, once again, ram through either an awful FISA reauthorization bill like the House Intelligence Committee’s product, which expands mass surveillance, or extend the program again without any reform. The only bill that balances civil liberties with security is the House Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan Protect Liberties and Warrantless Surveillance Act. That bill is the standard. Our patience is wearing thin. We demand and expect reform. Not codifying policies and practices that are routinely violated by the FBI and the intelligence community. We will not accept extensions of FISA. We will not accept the Intelligence Committee’s bill. It’s time to reform FISA and put an end to mass surveillance.”

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FreedomWorks exists to mobilize the principled center and politically homeless in America who do not feel their values of fiscal responsibility, social tolerance, and individual liberty are being represented in political discourse today. We seek to restore common sense and competence to public policy and American political life.