Families of 9/11 victims urge Congress to pass FISA bill 

A coalition of survivors and family members of 9/11 victims is urging Congress to pass a bill that would reauthorize the nation’s warrantless surveillance powers, warning that a failure to do so will put Americans at risk of another terrorist attack.

The coalition, called 9/11 Families United, asked Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in a letter Tuesday to urge Congress to pass a bill that would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for five years. Section 702 allows the government to spy on noncitizens located abroad.

A failure to reauthorize Section 702 “would be detrimental to national security,” Terry Strada, national co-chair for 9/11 Families United, said in the letter.

“We remember how our nation failed to stop al Qaeda and those who provided the material support for those attacks. Our country was caught flat-footed, lacking the tools it needed to stop attacks in their planning stages, and we are still paying the price,” Strada wrote, adding that the organization is “grateful that Congress has created this new legal regime.”

“We understand that there are those who want to make changes to how Section 702 works, in part to safeguard Americans’ civil liberties. We respect those voices,” Strada wrote.

Strada continued, urging Congress against adopting reforms that could undermine authorities’ access to information.

“Again, we have all seen what happens when those stones go unturned,” she added.

The House Rules Committee approved the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act on Tuesday, setting the legislation up for a likely battle on the House floor over whether to add a warrant requirement to the bill.

The intelligence community largely opposes a warrant requirement to the bill, with many arguing that adding the requirement could delay them from acting on threats in real-time because it could take weeks to obtain a warrant. Privacy hawks have backed the requirement, saying that it is needed to protect Americans’ data.

Kristen Breitweiser, the founder of Justice for 9/11, said in a statement that the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, should not serve as the reason for surveillance, saying that the U.S. government had the information it needed to prevent the attacks from happening. She pushed for the creation of the 9/11 Commission and testified before Congress to do so.

“Stop using 9/11 as the pretext for surveillance. The USG had all the information it needed in its possession to 100% prevent the 9/11 attacks from ever happening, and yet failed to do so leaving 3,000 dead and thousands injured from breathing known toxic air,” Breitweiser said. 

“If Congress wants to pass unconstitutional and unnecessary surveillance laws that trample the rights of Americans, they can choose to do so — but please do so without using the 3,000 dead on 9/11 as your pretense.” 

Updated at 6:24 p.m. EST.