[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 28, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2064-S2065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--S. 4344
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the cloture
vote on the motion to proceed to Calendar No. 373, S. 4344, occur at a
time to be determined by the majority leader in consultation with the
Democratic leader, no later than Friday, May 1.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. WYDEN. Reserving the right to object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the Senate is now delaying a vote on FISA
because Members are waking up to the fact that this surveillance
authority is too dangerous to hand to any President without new
reforms. And here is the bottom line. If there were the votes today to
advance this bill right now, we would be voting. But when it comes to
reauthorizing section 702, I am here to offer the judgment that the
only path forward is reform.
Here is how we got here. Two weeks ago, the leadership in the House
executed the oldest play in the book when it comes to surveillance:
They waited until a week before the bill was set to expire, there was
no time to debate, and they tried to pass a straight reauthorization
without reforms.
What happened? A bipartisan coalition said: No way.
Then they came back with a new bill that week, but it turned out that
these so-called reforms made FISA 702 less accountable. That bill
failed.
Then the House voted on a straight extension of the law--again with
no reforms. A bipartisan coalition voted that down.
And now, this week, the House Republican leadership tried to sell a
fake reform to their Members a third time. Once again, the body is in
disarray.
It is clear that Senators who voted to support the current FISA
surveillance law in the past are now rethinking their positions. Every
day, this administration demonstrates its contempt for the rule of law
and its thirst for absolute power. They have destroyed
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oversight and guardrails and trampled on the rights of the American
people. They have attacked and killed protesters and observers, seized
the records of journalists, and gone after political enemies, including
Members of Congress.
There are many ways in which 702 can be abused by the administration,
including warrantless searches of Americans' communications in 702
data. The fact is, there are alarm bells pointing to administration
abuses. What kind of abuses? Month after month, Trump administration
officials have been trotting out conspiracy theories about elections
and voting. These theories include accusations of foreign involvement.
The Director of National Intelligence even showed up at the FBI's
ballot-seizing raid in Fulton, GA. And one of her excuses: She was
there to protect against foreign interference. These conspiracy
theories open the door for more warrantless 702 searches, all to try to
discredit American elections.
The Trump administration has also been abusing its authorities to go
after journalists whose stories they don't like. All it takes is an
accusation of a foreign connection and they can be subjected to 702
searches. Then there are protesters who the administration could accuse
of being connected to antifa groups.
When the guardrails are gone and the abuses are clear, there is only
one solution: Congress must require court-ordered warrants to conduct
searches on Americans. There ought to be exceptions, but only for
emergencies.
I am going to close with one last important issue that colleagues are
approaching all of us to ask about, and that is the role of AI in
supercharging surveillance abuses. The Trump administration is going
full speed ahead on AI, and Americans are rightly concerned about how
artificial intelligence is going to affect their privacy rights.
In the case of section 702, the government could use artificial
intelligence to process huge amounts of data to identify Americans for
warrantless searches. These technological advances are happening so
fast, and Congress needs to step up and protect Americans. New tools
require new rules, and it really applies to artificial intelligence.
So when the Senate returns to vote on government surveillance, I am
here to say another effort to jam this bill through without reforms is
also going to be dead as a doornail.
I urge all Members to come forward and work in a bipartisan way
because security and liberty are not mutually exclusive. Smart policies
get you both; not so smart policies get you neither.
I urge my colleagues to recognize that at this moment it is right for
the Senate to postpone the vote. It is the second time we have
postponed a vote because the country doesn't buy this argument that we
should sacrifice our liberty in order to have security. We can find
both.
I urge my colleagues to use this interim period to make sure that
actually happens, and I intend to be on the floor objecting at every
opportunity if it doesn't.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further objection?
The majority leader.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, let me just say to my colleague from Oregon
that, obviously, there are, I think, constructive conversations going
on right now about how to address some of the concerns that he has
raised on this. But I would also say that, by midnight on Thursday,
this authority goes dark. It is authority that our military leadership
and intelligence leadership rely on heavily to keep the United States
safe, and so I hope we can find a way to proceed with this in a fashion
that doesn't allow this authority to go dark at midnight on Thursday.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, just so we are clear, there is authority to
continue the protections for the American people already. We will have
that debate. I am eager to work with colleagues on both sides of the
aisle.
We have to recognize that the only path forward for the American
people is actual reform and not just cliche's.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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