FBI Director Christopher Wray urged Congress on Tuesday to renew a law authorizing US agencies to spy on non-Americans around the world, arguing that allowing it to lapse would be equivalent to “unilateral disarmament.”
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), as it is known, is scheduled to expire at the end of December.
Wray, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Section 702 is a vital tool used by law enforcement to fight terrorism, cybercrime and drug trafficking.
“Stripping the FBI of its 702 authorities would be a form of unilateral disarmament,” the FBI director said, calling it “indispensable to our efforts to combat threats posed by foreign adversaries.”
“702 allows us to stay a step ahead of foreign actors located outside the United States who pose a threat to national security,” he said.
Wray added: “702 is key to our ability to detect a foreign terrorist organization overseas directing an operative here to carry out an attack in our own backyard.”
Section 702 allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance —…
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