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Electronic Frontier Foundation

Dear Supporter of Digital Freedom,

In less than two weeks, one of the NSA's most powerful surveillance tools is scheduled to expire. Some members of Congress are trying to ram legislation to extend and expand illegal NSA surveillance into unrelated must-pass funding bills that are needed to stop the federal government from imminently shutting down.

We have one chance to stop that sneaky legislative strategy. We need your help.

Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, a surveillance law that results in the collection of Americans' electronic communications, including emails, chat logs and browser history, is scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2017.

Two bills aimed at reauthorizing Section 702—H.R. 4478 in the House of Representatives and S. 2010 in the Senate—directly threaten Americans' constitutional rights. Both bills allow for the restarting of an invasive type of surveillance (called "about" searching) that the NSA voluntarily ended earlier this year. Both bills fail to protect Americans from having their electronic communications read by FBI agents without first obtaining a warrant.

Congress cannot agree whether to expand, restrict, or reauthorize Section 702, as is, before it sunsets. To cut through the log jam, some lawmakers want to attach their own privacy-invasive bills to entirely separate, must-pass funding bills that are meant to prevent a government shutdown. This maneuver would rob surveillance reform of its own vote—as well as any opportunity for transparent debate.
    
Tell Congress that these bills must be stopped. Tell Congress that attaching these bills to unrelated funding legislation is even more unacceptable. 

Call now.


Thank you,
Rainey Reitman
EFF Activism Director
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