Dear Senator Coons - Endorse the GSRA

The Government Surveillance Reform Act (GSRA) is a bipartisan, bicameral piece of legislation that renews FISA Section 702 with sweeping reforms to government surveillance powers. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rein in the surveillance state.

We need you to write to your Senator, Chris Coons, and ask him to cosponsor the GSRA.

The GSRA is the best answer to the upcoming expiration of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), an intrusive spying authority that sweeps up many thousands’ of Americans communications every year. FBI agents abuse this authority to spy on protesters, worshippers, and even to stalk people.

Senator Coons scores an impressive A- on our political scorecard. He supported a FISA Courts Reform Act, co-sponsored Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA) reform, proposed an amendment to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) that required intelligence agencies to removed personally identifiable information (PII) from cyber threat indicators prior to distributing them, and voted for FISA Court transparency by requiring an independent civil liberties expert to advise the court in most cases. These policy stances from Rep. Coons align with the provisions in the GSRA. He should endorse it.

The GSRA tackles these concerns, and requires that:

  • FBI and other intelligence officials must acquire a warrant prior to querying the Section 702 NSA database for U.S. persons’ communications, with exceptions carved out for exigent circumstances and individuals that have given prior consent to a search.

  • Limits the purpose and scope of Section 702 to foreign intelligence only

  • Sets up accountability procedures for negligent violations of querying procedures

  • Requires transparency measures that disclose, in a timely manner, the number of U.S. persons targeted under Section 702 as well as significant Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) opinions

  • Closes the “data-broker loophole” so that federal agencies can’t buy their way around the Fourth Amendment

And much, much more.

We’re not kidding when we say that the GSRA is the best surveillance reform opportunity since Restore the Fourth’s founding back in 2013.

Please help us in this key moment by writing to Senator Coons to ask that he/she co-sponsors the GSRA.

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