[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 9, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S2672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, in 4 days, authorization for our Nation's 
most critical intelligence-gathering tool will expire.
  Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act allows the 
U.S. Government to target the digital information of foreign actors 
located outside of the United States for specific national security 
purposes, such as counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and stopping 
the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Established in the wake of 
September 11 to address gaps in foreign intelligence collection, this 
program plays a vital role in foiling bad actors, including terrorists, 
cyber criminals, and drug and weapons traffickers.
  Our Nation's policymakers--from the White House to the Pentagon, to 
Congress--rely upon intelligence acquired from section 702 on a near 
daily basis. Twenty-four percent of the National Security Agency's 
intelligence reports in 2025 contained section 702 information. So did 
62 percent of projects in the CIA's daily World Intelligence Review and 
63 percent of articles in the President's Daily Brief.
  Just to bring this down to the concrete, more than 90 percent--90 
percent--of synthetic drug disruptions enabled by the CIA in 2025 
relied on section 702 information. Synthetic drug disruptions--that is 
operations targeting fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, poison intended for 
America's streets. The CIA reports that one raid alone supported by 
section 702 resulted in the seizure of more than 1 metric ton of 
fentanyl pills from a facility in Mexico.
  And drug disruption is just one activity supported by 702 
information.
  Section 702 provided intelligence that helped prevent a terrorist 
attack at a Taylor Swift concert. It enabled law enforcement to warn 
potential U.S. victims of ransomware attacks planned by North Korea. It 
helped enable the successful mission against al-Qaida's top leader, 
Ayman al-Zawahiri, in 2022. It has identified threats to U.S. troops 
and provided information key in pursuing the release of Americans held 
hostage abroad.
  The list goes on. Suffice it to say that section 702 plays a vital 
role in providing intelligence to protect our country.
  We have considered multiple 702 reauthorizations since the program's 
inception, and each time there is a robust discussion of the program 
and its safeguards to ensure that civil liberties are protected in the 
collection of vital intelligence. Two years ago, a bipartisan coalition 
of Senators voted to reauthorize this program with 56 bipartisan 
reforms that have now been fully implemented by the Trump 
administration. The result is that 702 is the most overseen 
intelligence collection tool in the world.
  Over the past several weeks, both Senate Democrats and Republicans 
have been working on a section 702 reauthorization in good faith. The 
bill released by Chairmen Cotton and Grassley last week includes 
additional bipartisan reforms over and above those included in the 
House-passed bill and over and above the robust guardrails already in 
place to ensure that 702 operates within the law and with respect for 
civil liberties.
  On Friday, I would have expected those Democrats who have been 
working with us to vote to advance the bill. After all, some of the 
provisions in the bill were included at their request. But they didn't. 
Why? Because they disagree with a short-term personnel choice made by 
the President: his temporary appointment for Acting Director of 
National Intelligence.
  Democrats have every right to disagree with the President's choice 
for this position, no matter how short-term the appointment is likely 
to be, but I invite my Democrat colleagues to think about what they are 
doing here in holding this vital intelligence collection program 
hostage because they don't like the President's temporary--temporary--
DNI pick.
  I have talked at some length here today about the critical role that 
section 702 plays on a near daily basis in protecting Americans from a 
range of threats. And you don't have to take my word for it. The top 
Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee has also made it clear 
that he regards section 702 as a key intelligence source. And yet he 
and a number of his colleagues are holding up reauthorization because 
they disagree with the President's, again, temporary DNI pick.
  Without Democrat cooperation, in 4 days, the section 702 program will 
go dark. America's enemies, however, will not--will not--go dark. They 
will continue working against the United States, whether that is 
conducting cyber attacks, planning terrorist activity, or trafficking 
fentanyl and other deadly drugs into our country. The only difference 
is that our intelligence Agencies will have a greatly reduced capacity 
to discover these activities.
  I hope my Democrat colleagues will rethink their decision to hold the 
702 program hostage before we all have cause to regret the 
consequences.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The majority whip.

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