Rep. Juan Ciscomani broke with Arizona’s other Republican Congressmen when he joined Arizona Democrats Raul Grijalva, Ruben Gallego and Greg Stanton, in support of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and a controversial provision that allows for the continued warrantless spying on Americans.
Representatives Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs, David Schweikert, Paul Gosar, and Eli Crane rejected the bill that gave FISA Section 702 a clean 4-month renewal, allowing the FBI to continue surveilling Americans without a warrant.
“I could not support this year’s NDAA—expensive legislation that doesn’t do enough to enhance military readiness and continues mass government surveillance on Americans,” tweeted Biggs. “This year’s NDAA reauthorizes the FISA 702 spying authority with zero meaningful reforms. This means that our intelligence community can continue to conduct warrantless surveillance campaigns on Americans without penalty.”
“From historic pay raises for our troops to provisions that safeguard our military against partisan ideology, the bill’s passage puts our nation on the strongest path to defend our shores and protect democracy across the world,” claimed Ciscomani.
However, Biggs disagreed with Ciscomani’s claim.
“The bill provides our servicemembers with an insufficient, 5.2% pay raise. When accounting for Joe Biden’s out-of-control inflation figures, there is virtually no raise,” tweeted Biggs. “Our servicemembers deserve much better for defending our freedoms.”
The Fiscal Year 2024 NDAA passed on a 310 to 118 bipartisan vote. Opposition to the Section 702 extension was bipartisan as well, with both conservatives and progressives arguing against it.
Congress just authorized spending another $600 million MORE on a proxy war in Ukraine. I voted HELL NO!
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) December 15, 2023
Rep. Paul Gosar also expressed opposition to the $6 million in additional funding for the war in the Ukraine.
None of the Arizona Democrats offered a defense of their vote in favor of the massive spending bill, which now heads to President Biden’s desk for a signature.
Congress has voted to pass the NDAA—in which they deceitfully concealed an extension of the warrantless spying program ("Section 702") universally opposed by the public.
Last year the FBI exploited 702 to spy on Americans (protestors, donors—even Congress) more than 200k times.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 14, 2023
Congress will get another opportunity to debate and vote on Section 702 in the near future, as the short 4-month extension will expire on April 19th of 2024.
Congress has voted to pass the NDAA—in which they deceitfully concealed an extension of the warrantless spying program ("Section 702") universally opposed by the public.
Last year the FBI exploited 702 to spy on Americans (protestors, donors—even Congress) more than 200k times.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 14, 2023