[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 96 (Monday, June 8, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S2657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, 87,000, that is how many lives were at 
risk in August 2024 when Austrian security services thwarted a 
devastating terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.
  Many of these lives could have been young girls from around the 
world, including Americans. Now this tragedy was halted because, thanks 
to section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, Austrian 
authorities were able to cancel the concert and apprehend the plotting 
terrorists, all because U.S. intelligence Agencies were able to share 
critical intelligence gathered under section 702 authority before the 
attack occurred.
  In 4 very short days, title 7 of the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act, including this essential service, expires. We can't 
let that happen.
  Section 702 happens to be our most nimble and effective intelligence 
collection tool. Section 702 equips our military with a strategic 
advantage. It protects our troops overseas, and it keeps terrorists, 
foreign adversaries, and dangerous illicit drugs from harming 
Americans, enabling over 90 percent of synthetic drug disruptions.
  It helps our intelligence and law enforcement community to defend our 
homeland from attacks, and it is essential for protecting our cyber 
security infrastructure.
  Title 7 then is critical to our national security, but it doesn't 
just protect us from security threats; it also protects us from 
government abuse and government overreach.
  Now, if title 7 expires, not only do we lose section 702's utility, 
we also lose all of its civil liberties, privacy, transparency, and 
accountability measures. There is a dangerous assumption that the 
program will function seamlessly if this statute expires on Friday.
  Well, I hope the certifications issued a few months ago will still 
apply in the event of the statute lapsing. This is not a certainty. 
There will be high-stakes litigation and a very real possibility that 
intelligence collection will cease, at least temporarily. And in this 
work of intelligence gathering, minutes do matter. Letting 702 lapse is 
a real gamble that we can't afford to take.
  So let's be very clear, if section 702 lapses, our adversaries will 
benefit greatly and Americans will suffer. In other words, we will be 
less secure in our safety as well as our privacy. Over the last few 
weeks, I have worked closely with Senators Cotton and Warner, the 
administration, the national security community, and Members of the 
House to develop a product that delivers meaningful reforms while 
maintaining section 702's essential operational effectiveness.
  This product is bipartisan, bicameral, and it strikes the right 
balance. The reforms in our bill build on the substantial reforms 
passed by the Congress in 2024. Again, I want to be clear that the 
reforms of 2024 that goes by the acronym RISAA are working. FBI query 
compliance is at 98.9 percent, with the remaining noncompliant queries 
due to typos and other harmless errors.
  This isn't the same program plagued by abuse a few years ago that 
civil libertarians rightly condemned and by their condemnation brought 
about some of the reforms in the 2024 bill. Because our bill builds on 
what the House sent us a few weeks back, it retains and strengthens the 
provisions and the good progress made by our colleagues in the other 
Chamber and, at the same time, adds 11 additional reforms that deliver 
real transparency and accountability.
  So let me list just a few. First, it requires the Justice Department 
to rescind and replace the Department of Justice memo drafted by the 
previous administration that, quite frankly, illegally restricts 
congressional oversight access to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 
Court.
  Now, why the previous administration didn't want to carry out the 
transparency requirements of the last Congress, I don't know, but they 
didn't do it.
  Secondly, it gives Congress a voice in the amici appointment process 
by requiring leadership to submit a bipartisan list of candidates to 
whom the FISC court is obliged to give the highest preference.
  Three, it levies criminal penalties on those who willfully violate 
querying standards.
  Fourth, it limits and clarifies the definition of an ``electronic 
communication service provider,'' thus addressing a concern of civil 
liberties groups across the political spectrum.
  Fifth, it requires the FBI monthly to submit U.S. person query 
justifications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the 
Civil Liberties Protection Officer for review.
  And, sixth, it requires noncompliant queries and abuse to be referred 
to the inspector general.
  Now, there is other points that could be made, and I could go on, but 
I think the point is very clear when it comes to transparency and 
accountability that we have added to what was started in 2024.
  There is no doubt that this bill is a compromise. That is how things 
are done in the U.S. Congress and, particularly, in the Senate. This 
bill isn't the clean reauthorization called for by the administration. 
This bill also isn't the maximalist approach called for by some 
skeptics of this program.
  This bill reflects what the American people expect and the American 
people deserve: the reauthorization of a very important national 
security tool but coupled with meaningful guardrails and transparency.
  If title 7 lapses, not only will these thoughtful and thorough 
reforms fail to become reality, but we will lose many of the key 
reforms instituted in the last reauthorization of 2024.
  This section 702 is the most transparent and most scrutinized 
intelligence collection in history. If it lapses, so does Congress' 
essential insight into and oversight of its functions.
  So we owe it to our constituents to protect them from threats, from 
terrorists, and other adversaries, but also to defend their privacy and 
civil liberties. Our bipartisan, bicameral, thoughtful bill 
accomplishes both goals.
  I appreciate the collaboration with my colleagues Senator Cotton and 
Warner, and I appreciate the collaboration and engagement from the 
administration and from our national security partners.
  I am grateful for the engagement from the House of Representatives. 
We got this bill to a very good place, and it is the kind of a bill 
that should have significant support from both sides of the aisle.
  Now, we need to finish this job. We need to put aside partisanship 
and do what is right by the American people. We need to advance this 
bill to the President's desk and reauthorize this very critical 
program.
  My Democratic colleagues should recognize that walking away from this 
deal isn't hurting President Trump; it is hurting the American people.
  I hope my colleagues appreciate this bill for what it is, and I pray 
that we can consider this bill later this week. And I urge everyone in 
this Chamber to vote yes on reauthorizing section 702 in this very 
careful and very thoughtful way now before the U.S. Senate.
  I yield the floor.

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