Transparency is vital to democracy. Below please find explainers for key votes I took in the 118th Congress.

H.R.7888: Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act

Section 702 of FISA is one of the most critical national security tools we have. It allows us to monitor the communications of suspicious foreign nationals. Though many of the precise details relating to the program are understandably classified for national security reasons, it is no exaggeration to say that the program allows us to counter terrorist threats, drug trafficking schemes, foreign enemies' recruitment of spies, ransomware attacks, and other malicious actions by our enemies. Allowing Section 702 to expire on April 19 - which will happen if Congress does not do its job - would be unbelievably reckless and an abdication of our duty to keep the American people safe. I am also happy that the bill I voted for includes many reforms that will add procedural guardrails to the process, to curb misuse of the program by our intelligence community.

A proposed amendment would have required the federal government to get a warrant before running queries relating to Americans from information legally collected under Section 702. The Biden administration has forcefully argued that the imposition of a warrant requirement would curtail the ability of the government to monitor threats and successfully counter terrorism, and many members of the Intelligence Committee agree across party lines. As such, I voted against the amendment, as I believe we can adequately safeguard Americans' privacy and civil liberties without limiting our capacity to counter national security threats.