Paul Gosar Votes Against 'Warrantless Spy Bill'

US Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has voted against H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, a bill that many Republicans have called a, "Warrantless Spy Reauthorization."

Republicans have long complained that the intelligence agencies, like the FBI, have abused FISA by collecting the communications of American citizens without a warrant.  This could potentially lead to arbitrary or political reasons for spying on Americans.

Rep. Gosar contends that the FBI has abused Section 702 to conduct searches without a warrant against Americans over 270,000 times.

Gosar stated, “Congress purportedly wrote Section 702 of FISA to protect our national security by allowing the intelligence community, including the FBI, to spy on non-American threats without a court order.  However, FISA was never intended to spy on U.S. citizens."

"As a result, I could not support the warrantless surveillance of Americans allowed under section 702 of FISA and voted against its reauthorization. It is a clear overreach of authority and is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures."  Gosar continued, "While everything must be done to prevent future terrorist activities, it should not come at the cost of the privacy and civil rights abuses of innocent American citizens."

Republicans in Congress attempted to amend the bill, however, 86 Republicans voted for the legislation with 126 Democrats.