A bill that reauthorizes Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is now moving from the House of Representatives to the Senate, The Hill reported Monday.
The reauthorization bill contains reforms meant to protect the privacy of American citizens, whose communications may be swept up by U.S. intelligence agencies spying on non-citizens living abroad under the powers given by FISA 702.
The measure had actually already cleared the lower chamber on April 12 by a 273-147 vote, The Hill reported Friday. However, when a subsequent amendment failed to pass due to a tie, a motion to reconsider the vote was made, which was followed by a motion to table that motion to reconsider.
The vote on the second motion took place on April 15, with 259 in favor and 128 against, effectively sending the reauthorization bill to the upper chamber without the amendment, which would have required a warrant in order to access information collected on Americans during foreign surveillance.