According to Reuters 13**, the U.S. Senate, with the support of Democrats and Republicans, passed the Senate National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024 on the same day, which includes a four-month extension for the controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (referred to as Section 702) to give lawmakers more time to reform or retain this provision. The Senate thwarted an attempt to remove the Section 702 extension from the National Defense Authorization Act before voting to pass the bill. The House of Representatives is expected to pass the bill as early as later this week.
The Section 702, which was due to expire on Dec. 31, allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect and retain records of emails, text messages and other communications from foreign nationals outside the U.S. without authorization. "This clause is too important to let it expire. Josh Gelzer, a member of the U.S. *** committee, said last Sunday. He estimates that 59 percent of the dossiers submitted to the United States** as part of the daily security briefings are based to varying degrees on intelligence gathered through this provision. However, Section 702 has been controversial in the U.S. because the communications of foreign nationals with U.S. citizens are also subject to surveillance.
Former U.S. defense contractor employee ** Deng wrote on the social platform X on the 13th, "If (House Speaker) Mike Johnson abused the National Defense Authorization Act to privately stuff into law the extension of the FBI's unauthorized surveillance system (i.e., Section 702), which has conducted more than 200,000 surveillances on Americans in just one year, he should be abandoned like McCarthy." ”
On the 14th, China's spokesperson Mao Ning commented that the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was introduced after the Watergate scandal and was intended to prevent the administration from abusing its power and arbitrarily spying. But Section 702, added in 2008, allows security services to conduct surveillance without the need for a court license. Since then, the United States has continuously expanded the scope of surveillance and surveillance, meddled in the internal affairs of other countries, and interfered in international affairs, which runs counter to international law and basic norms governing international relations. The larger the scope of monitoring, the smaller the circle of friends. The United States should have more "sense of borders" and less "desire for control."
Global Times