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Americans would be outraged if the government could walk into their home, search through their personal papers, and leave without ever getting permission from a judge.

Yet, something eerily similar is happening today. Federal agencies can search through vast databases containing YOUR sensitive information without getting a warrant first!!

The debate to stop this issue is happening RIGHT NOW in Congress.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was created to help intelligence agencies monitor foreign terrorists, spies, and adversaries overseas. Protecting our nation from foreign threats is a critical responsibility, and intelligence tools play an important role in that mission. But over time, FISA has drifted from its purpose.

Under the Biden administration, the FBI improperly used warrantless search powers against U.S. citizens more than 278,000 times in the year ending November 2021, according to an unsealed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) filing. To this day, there has been zero accountability. That should concern every American, regardless of political party.

The Fourth Amendment is clear. Americans should not lose their constitutional rights simply because their information happens to be stored in a government database. 

FISA is scheduled to expire on June 12. Now more than ever, Congress has the chance to renew the tools necessary to protect our nation from foreign threats, and also restore constitutional protections that have been steadily eroded.

Here are three reforms conservatives are fighting for:

• Require a warrant before searching Americans' communications. If the FBI or another federal agency wants to search the communications of an American citizen, they should first obtain a warrant from a judge. That is how our constitutional system is supposed to work.
  
• Increase transparency and accountability. Americans deserve to know when surveillance authorities are being misused. Agencies that abuse these powers should face real consequences, and Congress should have stronger oversight to ensure these authorities are not weaponized against innocent citizens.
  
• Protect Americans from overly broad data collection. Current law allows the government to compel a wide range of businesses and service providers to assist in surveillance operations. Congress should narrow these authorities and ensure that Americans' private information is not unnecessarily swept into government databases.

American privacy is sacred, and this debate is not about choosing between security and freedom. We CAN do BOTH!! 

Civilian spying may be common practice in communist China or in the dictatorship of North Korea, but it certainly is not acceptable in our great United States of America. Our Founding Fathers did not write the Bill of Rights so that government agencies could search Americans’ private communications without judicial oversight. 

It’s time to amend FISA to its original intent, and keep BIG BROTHER out of our homes.