Rep. Hank Johnson Opposes Telecom Immunity, Wiretapping

Press Release

Rep. Hank Johnson, a member of the House Armed Services and Judiciary Committees today voted against The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which permits mass, untargeted surveillance of all calls and emails entering or leaving the U.S. without adequate protections for Americans' civil liberties. While H.R. 6304 will not require warrants for foreign-to-foreign communications, and it also allows the collection of Americans' phone calls and emails if they are communicating with someone outside of the U.S.

"I am absolutely against this bill and I am particularly against giving immunity to the telecom companies," said Rep. Johnson. "This Administration has been steadily chipping away at citizen's rights and no one in government should have the right to spy on U.S. citizens."

Under FISA 1978, individual applications were considered. H.R. 6304 however, provides for court review of whole surveillance programs. Although the bill provides for prior court review, the government can certify that "without immediate implementation of an authorization, intelligence important to the national security of the United States may be lost or not timely acquired." If an application is denied, prior to or following when surveillance has begun, intelligence agencies can continue to conduct surveillance throughout the appeals process, and keep everything collected despite the court's denial. The Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence would be required to report to the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees every six months.

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