Strauss Center Director Adam Klein and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) jointly penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal titled “A Vital National Security Tool Shouldn’t Go Dark.” In the piece, Klein and Cornyn highlight the need to prioritize reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) within this congressional session.
“What worries us is the legislative calendar,” the pair write. “The existing court orders extend to next spring, but waiting until then to reauthorize 702 is risky…Renewal this year would ensure that intelligence officials have time to seek new court orders before the current ones expire.”
With aspects of Section 702 remaining debated in Congress, Klein and Cornyn note that recent reforms to protect civil liberties are working and that renewing 702 with strong reforms is not only possible in a bipartisan manner, but will also sustain an essential component of the U.S. national security apparatus.
“Congress must make a priority of Section 702,” they emphasize. “Letting it lapse would strip vital intelligence from the commander in chief and our troops abroad and put the American people more at risk in a dangerous world.”
Read their full column here.
The Strauss Center for International Security and Law is launching a new program to help University of Texas law students build careers in the federal government and Washington, DC. The Program on Federal Government and Washington, DC Lawyering, led by Professor Brian Pérez-Daple, will give students the mentorship, connections, and practical guidance they need to pursue opportunities with federal agencies, the U.S. Department...
Adam Klein, Director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, was quoted in an article in Dispatch on "FISA's Section 702 Has Lapsed. Now What?". Section 702's authority on surveilling non-Americans abroad lapsed for the first time on June 12. “The relative constitutional clarity that 702 provides should be seen as stabilizing and protective, and so for that...
After Congress allowed Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to expire over the weekend, Strauss Center Director Adam Klein provided his perspective to The Christian Science Monitor in their article "Congress lets part of spy law lapse. What's next for counterterrorism efforts?" FISA Section 702 grants the U.S. government the ability to surveil non-U.S. persons abroad without...