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Washington, D.C. – At the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence's (HPSCI) annual open hearing on global threats, Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) highlighted reforms authored by Intelligence Committee Republicans to curb abuses and the importance of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) Section 702 to protecting Americans from terrorists and other foreign adversaries. LaHood, who is the Chairman of HPSCI’s Subcommittee on the NSA and Cyber, 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. 

Key Excerpts

LaHood walked through the extensive reforms HPSCI Republicans proposed to reform the FBI, prevent the abuses carried out in Crossfire Hurricane, and bring greater transparency to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). He also highlighted the extensive support HPSCI Republicans received from national security conservatives for HPSCI's FISA reforms. 

In questioning, Rep. LaHood stated: "When we think about how essential Section 702 has been over the last nine years, I think about instances like taking out al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda leader, in Kabul, I think about Soleimani the Iranian general, al-Baghdadi the leader of the Islamic State, al-Sudani, the ISIS leader in Somalia, and of course Osama bin Laden. Director Burns, can you talk about how essential 702 was in general for those instances and other counterterrorism actions?

In follow up, CIA Director Burns said: "It was crucial in each of the areas that you mentioned and in 2022 when the United States took out both Zawahiri in Kabul, but also the Hajji Abdullah, the then Emir of ISIS. 702 was also crucial in that operation."

On efforts to address the current fentanyl crisis in the United States, CIA Director Burns went on to add: "702 has been absolutely crucial. Last year, for example, 70% of the successful CIA disruptions of illicit synthetic drug operations came as a result of 702. So there is an expanding area of concerns and threats that are crucial to the protection of Americans that hinge on the successful application of 702 with the reforms that I know you are rightly working on."

Related:
LaHood Highlights FISA Section 702's Ability to Thwart CCP Cyber Threats
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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