1. United States
2. Fla.
3. Letter

I am writing as a concerned constituent to urge you to vote against any clean or short-term reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) unless it includes robust protections for American citizens' constitutional rights. Section 702 was intended to target foreign terrorists and spies overseas. In practice, it has become a tool for warrantless "backdoor" searches of Americans' private communications. The government collects vast amounts of data—including emails, texts, and calls involving U.S. persons—incidentally, then allows agencies like the FBI to query that database for Americans' information without a warrant or probable cause. This practice directly undermines the Fourth Amendment. History shows repeated and serious abuses:The FBI has conducted hundreds of thousands of U.S. person queries in past years, including improper searches on Black Lives Matter protesters, January 6 participants, congressional campaign donors, journalists, members of Congress, and even crime victims. Recent classified documents, including a FISA Court opinion highlighting serious FBI implementation problems and a letter from Sen. Ron Wyden warning of a secret government interpretation of the law, underscore that compliance issues persist and may be worsening. Even modest reforms from prior years have proven ineffective at curbing misuse, as violations continue at troubling rates. A "clean" reauthorization—or any extension without a mandatory warrant requirement for queries targeting Americans—would hand unchecked surveillance power to the executive branch, regardless of which party controls the White House. No American should have their private communications searched by the government without judicial oversight based on probable cause.I respectfully request that you:Oppose any bill that reauthorizes Section 702 without a warrant requirement for U.S. person queries. Support amendments that close the backdoor search loophole, restore independent oversight (such as the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board), address data broker loopholes, and require transparency on "incidental" collection. Vote to protect the Constitution over agency convenience, even if intelligence officials claim urgency. National security is important, but it must never come at the expense of our founding principles. The American people expect Congress to defend the Fourth Amendment, not erode it.Thank you for your service and for considering my views. I look forward to your response and will be watching how you vote on this critical issue.