Extension of Authorities of Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978

Floor Speech

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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 9238) to amend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 9238

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITIES OF TITLE VII OF THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978.

(a) Extension of Repeal Date of Title VII.--Section 403(b) of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-261), as most recently amended by Public Law 119-87, is further amended--

(1) in paragraph (1) (50 U.S.C. 1881 note), by striking ``June 12, 2026'' and inserting ``July 2, 2026''; and

(2) in paragraph (2) (18 U.S.C. 2511 note) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``June 12, 2026'' and inserting ``July 2, 2026''.

(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the earlier of the date of the enactment of this Act or June 11, 2026.

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Mr. JORDAN. 9238.

Mr. Speaker, FISA section 702 will expire on Friday. This bill extends the program until July 2.

The 702 program is critically important to our national security. More than 60 percent of our intelligence presented to the President, to the Commander in Chief, every single day is derived from 702.

With the World Cup about to begin this week, we cannot be left without this critical tool every day. The 702 program helps keep us safe here at home and advance our interests abroad.

This temporary extension will ensure that there is no disruption to the program while we find a path forward on reauthorization.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I think that might be the first time that I heard my friend and gentleman from Maryland agree with the President, as he smiles.

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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I will point out to the gentleman from Kentucky, that is not the question today. The question today is: Can we go another 3 weeks, 21 days, and try to figure out what makes sense on protecting the privacy rights of Americans?

That is a simple question. I don't think 3 weeks is too much to ask. For goodness sakes, this program has been around forever. We did 56 reforms to it just 2 years ago.

I think the question is probably just: Can we go another 3 weeks and figure it out and maybe have those discussions that the ranking member was talking about? I know he and I have talked about what makes sense. That is the question in front of us.

Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I want the American citizens to know that, as was said earlier, April 17, with hundreds of people on the floor of the House of Representatives, we did, by UC, adopt a 1-week extension. That was true.

We then did a 45-day extension, and now we are asking, yes, for 21- day extension. And sometimes things take longer than we would like for them to.

I want to defend my friend Tulsi Gabbard, who was attacked by the gentleman from Maryland. Tulsi was the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. She was the vice chair. She was elected unanimously to that position as the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee. She maintained friendships, because everybody knew she was a serious Member of Congress, up to and until she became an appointee of President Trump as DNI, and then, all of a sudden, everything I have heard from Democrats about her has been bad.

She was elected unanimously to the vice chair position of the DNC. She is a good woman. She cares about this country, and you should show her a little more respect than you do.

I want the American citizens, if you are watching this, to know, it is very simple. There is a lot going on in the world. Say what you want to about it with Iran. The bottom line is, the risks are elevated. The risks are elevated. Some of us think the President did the right thing. I realize some of you think he did the wrong thing, but the risks are elevated.

We have got the World Cup that is about to happen. Thousands and thousands of people are coming into this country, some of which actually want to do us harm. Do you know who is going to be making sure that we keep the ones out of this country that want to do us harm? It is going to be Customs and Border Protection checking statuses when they come in through the border. I am glad that we got that funded.

I want to leave you with this. If you are watching this, we, as the Republicans in the House, are also disappointed that we have not gotten to a resolution after the 1-week extension, after the 45-day extension.

We are simply asking for another 21-day extension to make sure that this authority does not expire.

Mr. Speaker, I would just ask that we abide by commonsense and the rule that we first do no harm by taking down a valuable national security tool that the United States of America needs.

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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I think we are ready to close if the ranking member can wind up his remarks.

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Mr. JORDAN. I would just remind my friend from Maryland, the ranking member, of a couple things. I said initially, in light of the 56 reforms we did a couple years ago to this legislation, I was willing to go for a short- term reauthorization, 18 months. Remember, that was the original package. I was willing to go for that, particularly at a time when we, like it or not, are in a conflict, military operation, in Iran. I thought that made sense, in light of the reforms we have done.

Second, he said that I had said earlier what is another 3 weeks. Well, he just talked about hammering it out. I didn't say what is another 3 weeks. I said: We can take 3 weeks to continue to hammer it out and figure it out. That is all we are asking.

While we are hammering it out and figuring it out, we maybe want not to let the program go completely dark, not because--because the guys on the Intel Committee, even Mr. Himes, understands how important this is.

Finally, I would say this. When he says: ``Where is my friend from a few years ago?'' if I remember right, we could have had the warrant requirement maybe 2 years ago because I remember what the vote was. It was 212-212. All it would have taken was one more ``no'' vote then to vote ``yes,'' and, shazam, we pass it.

You can criticize all you want, but those are the facts.

Now, the question again is real simple: Can we go another 3 weeks--I think we can--and hammer out a deal, which I am willing to do with the gentleman from Maryland and the folks on the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I would urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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