Washington, D.C. – At the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hearing on the CCP Cyber Threat to the American Homeland and National Security this week, Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray and the Commander of U.S. Cyber Command and Director of the National Security Agency (NSA) General Paul Nakasone about the impact of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on combatting threats from the CCP. LaHood also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and has led the committee's effort to reform and reauthorize Section 702 of FISA.
You can view Rep. LaHood's statement and questioning here or below.
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In his opening remarks, Rep. LaHood emphasized the importance of Section 702 to protecting Americans: "I would argue it's of existential importance from a national security standpoint. Section 702 is a crucial tool for providing the U.S. with the ability to target foreign people overseas to gather information that allows us to protect our citizens both abroad and here at home."
Key Excerpts
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In response to Rep. LaHood's questioning, FBI Director Wray offered a specific example of Section 702 being used to thwart PRC cyber threats: "We were able to identify PRC state-sponsored cyber actors taking initial steps to access a particular U.S. transportation hub. We were able to quickly notify the entity and share technical details, which enabled them to kick the Chinese off the networks before harm could be done. Before some of the more apocalyptic scenarios we've been talking about could transpire. That's the kind of thing that happens frankly not infrequently in our world. 702 enabling us to identify PRC malicious cyber activity targeting Americans and American infrastructure."
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Director of the NSA General Paul Nakasone added, "As someone who was at the Pentagon on 9/11, to consider that we would return to the days before Section 702, where we couldn't connect the dots is almost inexplicable."
He concluded by highlighting the impact Section 702 has on stopping the flow of deadly fentanyl from China into our communities, "702 is so agile, that it provides us an ability to see the Chinese precursor chemicals that are being used to feed fentanyl, which is the scourge of our nation. 100,000 Americans lost their lives in 2022 from fentanyl. 702 allows us to identify those precursors and that saves lives."
Related:
LaHood, Intelligence Committee Release FISA Report: Section 702 Must Be Reformed
LaHood: Don’t let FISA provision expire; reform it
LaHood, Turner, Crenshaw: Hold These Truths Podcast - Is the Government Spying on US?
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