Washington, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), voted to support H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA). The bill, which LaHood helped author as the lead on HPSCI's Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Working Group, is the largest reform of the FBI in a generation and puts an end to FISA abuses while maintaining Section 702's ability to target bad actors overseas and keep Americans safe.
LaHood released the following statement after the vote:
"We face the greatest terrorist threat since 9/11. The most important tool our Intelligence Community has to keep Americans safe from those threats is Section 702 of FISA, but it must be reformed to protect American civil liberties from abuses.
"Over the past year, Intelligence Committee Republicans have worked to address the unacceptable Section 702 abuses, like the inappropriate FBI query I believe was committed against me, and the Title I FISA abuses outside of Section 702, like those in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. The RISAA incorporates over 50 FISA reforms and marks the largest reform of the FBI in a generation.
"At a time when Iran, Russia, and the CCP are working every day to undermine our freedom and our interests around the globe, and with a wide open southern border, allowing Section 702 of FISA to expire or be gutted would put our country at grave risk. The RISAA takes the necessary steps to overhaul the FBI, prevent the abuses committed against President Trump's campaign from happening again, protect American civil liberties, and bring needed transparency to the FISA Court, while also allowing our intelligence services to continue to hunt down terrorists and bad actors. I look forward to our continued work on the Intelligence Committee to provide oversight on the Intelligence Community and keep Americans safe."
LaHood's remarks during debate on the floor can be viewed here.
Background on RISAA Reforms
The bill institutes the largest reform of the FBI in a generation by:
- Reducing the number of FBI personnel authorized to make U.S. person queries by over 90 percent.
- Creating new criminal liability and increased penalties for government officials who engage in a range of misconduct related to FISA, such as leaking FISA-derived information or making false declaration before the FISA Court, which would prevent abuses like those that occurred against Carter Paige and the Trump campaign from ever happening again.
- And requiring independent audits of 100 percent of the FBI’s U.S. person queries.
The bill ends the separate Title I FISA abuses committed in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation and against the Trump campaign by:
- Creating enhanced criminal penalties for those who violated FISA applications or lied to the FISA court.
- Giving the FISA court the authority to prosecute for contempt.
- Prohibiting the use of political opposition research and press reports to get a FISA order.
The bill reforms and brings greater transparency to the FISA court by:
- Mandating transcripts for deliberations in the court.
- Assigning counsel to scrutinize U.S. surveillance applications.
- Requiring the same FISA court judge to rule on surveillance extensions.
