House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) is confident that the latest Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will pass in the House, he said Sunday.
The Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, unveiled last week, would extend Section 702 of FISA, which allows the government to spy on noncitizens located abroad. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) urged his colleagues Friday to support the bill, as some lawmakers have expressed opposition to the measure.
When asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” if the latest bill would pass the House, Turner said he believed it would.
“I think it does. I think it will. I think that those who mischaracterize this are small compared to those who understand that this goes to the heart of our ability to get intelligence. It allows us to be able to keep Americans safe. This is not a warrantless surveillance of Americans,” he told co-host Jake Tapper on Sunday.
Turner emphasized that the measure is meant to spy on foreigners abroad, not those in the United States. He also noted that the Intelligence Committee “was instrumental in drafting the bill.”
“And, Jake, I appreciate you raising this issue because … this is surveillance, surveillance of foreigners who are abroad … we’re not surveilling foreigners in the United States. We’re not surveilling Americans in the United States,” he said.
“Those individuals who say that this is a warrantless search of Americans’ data are just not telling the truth. These are foreigners abroad. They’re a select group of individuals who are a national security threat,” he added.
Turner said Americans want the U.S. to “make certain” that the country is safeguarding itself against outside groups, including terrorist organizations. The updated bill does not include a warrant requirement that some critics say would cause delays that would hinder intelligence agents from responding to threats in real time.
“We are not spying on Americans. This is not a warrantless surveillance program. This is foreigners who are abroad only, and this needs to pass,” he said.