Opposing Reauthorization of FISA Without Meaningful Civil Liberties Protections

June 24, 2026

Dear Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper and Representative Neguse,

Thank you for your service to the people of Colorado. 

As a Colorado State Representative and as someone who deeply values both our national security and our constitutional freedoms, I write to urge you to oppose any reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) unless meaningful reforms are enacted to protect the rights and liberties of Americans.

The recent expiration of Section 702 presents an important opportunity for Congress to reevaluate the balance between national security and civil liberties. While foreign intelligence gathering serves a legitimate purpose, oversight findings and public reporting have documented instances in which Section 702 databases were queried for information involving members of Congress, journalists, political commentators, protesters, and other individuals engaged in constitutionally protected activities. These incidents raise serious concerns about the potential misuse of surveillance authorities and undermine public trust.

In addition, the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence presents new challenges. Surveillance authorities developed in a previous era could become significantly more powerful when combined with modern AI tools capable of analyzing vast amounts of information at unprecedented speed and scale. Congress must ensure that these authorities cannot be used in ways that threaten fundamental constitutional protections.

Accordingly, I urge you to support only legislation that includes robust safeguards, including:

• Preventing warrantless backdoor searches of Americans’ communications by requiring judicial authorization before searches are conducted using U.S. persons’ information.

• Including strong protections to ensure that no administration can misuse surveillance authorities to target political critics, activists, journalists, religious minorities, immigrants, or communities of color.

• Protecting the freedoms of speech, religion, association, and peaceful protest guaranteed by the First Amendment.

• Strengthening transparency, oversight, and accountability measures so the public can have confidence that these authorities are not being abused.

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Our nation can and must protect both security and liberty. Surveillance authorities should not be reauthorized without meaningful protections that preserve the constitutional rights of the people they are intended to protect.

I respectfully urge you to oppose any clean reauthorization of Section 702 and to support only legislation that includes strong, enforceable civil liberties safeguards. Coloradans expect their elected leaders to defend both our safety and our constitutional freedoms.

Thank you for your service and for your consideration of this important matter. I look forward to hearing your views on these critical protections.

Sincerely,