WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Senate Intelligence Committee voted Tuesday to reauthorize a key, widely used foreign surveillance law that is set to expire at the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vote was 12-3 to advance the measure to the full Senate. There is bipartisan support for the surveillance law, which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect information on foreigners abroad, but some lawmakers are seeking provisions they claim will better protect Americans\u2019 communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis bill reauthorizes our nation\u2019s most valuable intelligence collection authorities and ensures that the men and women of the intelligence committee and our law enforcement agencies have the tools and authorities they need to keep us safe,\u201d said Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the bill strengthens judicial and congressional oversight of the government\u2019s queries of lawfully collected U.S. personal data. \u201cIt is a good compromise bill that addresses privacy and civil liberties concerns while maintaining a critical tool essential for our intelligence and law enforcement professionals to protect the nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill would extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act through the last day of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It includes a provision Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., offered to increase the maximum penalty for leaking classified information to 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCurrently, the punishment is a mere one year in prison,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cThat\u2019s a pittance compared to the threat these leaks pose to our national security and to American lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is bipartisan support for the surveillance law, which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect information on foreigners abroad, but some lawmakers are seeking provisions they claim will better protect Americans\u2019 communications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":69103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,106,31,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1304],"class_list":["post-23888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4L24B26T25ATFI6WM4EAZLJQ7I","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/capitol-hill\/2017\/10\/25\/senate-intelligence-panel-votes-to-renew-surveillance-law\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n