Congressman Biggs Votes to Protect Americans' Fourth Amendment Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House passed the USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act to reauthorize potential spying on Americans. Congressman Biggs voted against the reauthorization and issued the following statement:

"The ‘F' in FISA stands for foreign, and that's what the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is supposed to do: surveil foreign actors who might be intent on doing harm to Americans. Yet, as the nation found out after the 2016 election, our own government used FISA to spy on Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign. Even though wrongdoing has been investigated and found, there have been no prosecutions or penalties for the intelligence officials who committed a serious breach of trust with the Trump campaign and with the American people.

"If spying on a presidential campaign can occur under FISA, it can happen to any American. That's why I have worked with some Republicans and Democrats to make serious reforms to FISA to protect the liberties of all Americans. No American should have their liberties and Fourth Amendment rights violated under any circumstance; the government must have probable cause and go before an Article III court to obtain a warrant before surveilling an American. We shouldn't merely attempt to meet Americans halfway on their constitutional rights, nor should we be satisfied with a ‘compromise' on a fundamental premise of the Bill of Rights.

"Unfortunately, today's FISA reauthorization doesn't make the reforms that would prevent Americans, including President Trump, from having their liberties and privacy violated by the secret court. It did not include any of the substantive reforms that some of my colleagues and I were attempting to insert. It gives special protections to Members of Congress and candidates for Congress. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to do what they can to block this reauthorization until serious reforms are adopted. However, if this reauthorization is passed by the Senate, I encourage President Trump to veto it to protect Americans' Fourth Amendment rights."

Congressman Andy Biggs is a second-term Representative from Arizona's Fifth Congressional District, representing parts of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Queen Creek. Congressman Biggs is a member of the House Judiciary and Science, Space, and Technology committees. He lives with his wife, Cindy, in Gilbert.