REAFFIRM THE PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY BY DISMANTLING THE SURVEILLANCE STATE

On 2026-06-03, Representative Keith Self (R-TX-3) delivered a floor speech titled "REAFFIRM THE PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY BY DISMANTLING THE SURVEILLANCE STATE" in the House.

REAFFIRM THE PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY BY DISMANTLING THE SURVEILLANCE STATE

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 94 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 94 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)] [House] [Pages H3823-H3827] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] REAFFIRM THE PRINCIPLES OF LIBERTY BY DISMANTLING THE SURVEILLANCE STATE (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Self of Texas was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.) General Leave Mr. SELF. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Texas? There was no objection. Mr. SELF. Mr. Speaker, America's founding generation did not take up arms merely over taxes. They rebelled against a tyrannical government that planted spies in their taverns, searched their homes, and read their private letters. Benjamin Franklin understood this threat deeply. He popularized the rattlesnake as the symbol of America, first with his ``Join, or Die'' cartoon, and later by praising the defiant motto: ``Don't Tread On Me.'' He also delivered a timeless warning: Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. This year, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. There could be no more fitting time to reaffirm the principles of liberty than by dismantling the surveillance state that has quietly eroded them. That starts with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, FISA, which has become the modern incarnation of the general warrants that ignited the revolution. Created originally to track foreign enemies on foreign soil, section 702 has morphed into a sprawling domestic surveillance machine that sweeps up American's communications and treats the Fourth Amendment like a suggestion. On June 12, Congress faces another deadline to renew section 702. The intelligence community wants a clean reauthorization, but we are not going to accept that, Congress should not accept that, and no American, if they were actually told the truth for once about what their own government is doing to them, would accept that. This is not opposition to national security. It is a refusal to sacrifice essential liberty for temporary safety. If Congress is going to renew FISA, then we must enact meaningful changes. First, repeal the dangerously broad expansion of the term ``electronic communication service provider.'' It now allows the government to compel churches, small businesses, and community organizations to hand over Americans' communications. Second, strengthen the FISA Courts Amicus Curiae program so independent voices can actually defend Americans' rights in secret proceedings. Third, close the data broker loophole that allows the FBI, IRS, and every other Federal agency to bypass the Constitution by simply buying Americans' geolocation, metadata, and browsing history off the market. Most urgently, require a warrant for backdoor searches of Americans' communications. At peak, the government conducted nearly 3 million warrantless searches of U.S. citizens' data, many of them illegal. Foreign threats must be watched, but Americans deserve probable cause and a real warrant on American soil. In addition, we must ban the Central Bank Digital Currency permanently. The CBDC is the ultimate surveillance tool that allows the government to track, control, and potentially freeze every purchase you make. The CBDC cannot ever be allowed to operate in the United States. It is the biggest threat to our privacy. While we are at it, let's secure our elections by ensuring that only American citizens vote in American elections. Mr. Speaker, our Founders never intended for us to trade liberty for supposed safety. Our Founders never imagined today where illegal aliens would be voting in our elections. In this 250th anniversary year of American independence, Congress must draw a line in the sand. Let us stand with our forefathers, the Constitution, and the American people who want secure elections and for the government to stop spying on them. Reject the rubber-stamped FISA renewal, pass these reforms, secure our elections, ban CBDC forever, restore the Fourth Amendment, and protect our Republic. The rattlesnake is, once again, rattling. It is time for Congress to listen. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs), my distinguished colleague. Mr. BIGGS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I am grateful, indeed, for the opportunity to address one of the most consequential issues facing our great Republic: the Federal Government's warrantless surveillance of the American people. For years, Americans have watched headline after headline exposing the intelligence community's abuse of its authority, and I thought I would share just a few of those. Most recently, John Brennan admitted that there is a legion of deep state operatives in DOJ and CIA who are resisting Trump's orders. Why is that important? It is because they are the ones who violate the warrant requirement, as well. House approves reauthorization of FISA 702, warrantless spy powers, and yet when you go and read it, we have problems still. We still have problems. Why do we know that? Because the FISC, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, has issued a report. It is classified. Former DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard wanted to declassify that secret but critical court document but was denied. Actually, in my opinion, that needs to be released before we ever take a vote on FISA again. I will just leave it there on those headlines and get back to this. President Trump has an agenda. He won the popular vote in a landslide. In my home State, he got 160,000 votes more than the Democrat. How did he do it? Because the people wanted him to get his agenda through, but it is being sidestepped and avoided. Who are the people that are causing the problem, according to John Brennan? It is the same people that spied on [[Page H3824]] President Trump's campaign previously. They abused FISA. The abuses are not hypothetical. They are not ancient. They didn't just happen in 2016. They are ongoing. That is what Tulsi Gabbard and the FISC court have discovered, and we need to discover that, as well. {time} 2000 Section 702 has been used to search the communications of protesters across the political spectrum, 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign, Members of Congress, congressional staff, journalists, and ordinary Americans who did nothing wrong. Now, it has come to my attention that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has this opinion that is sitting there. It details significant government compliance failures under section 702. We need that to be declassified. The American people, this great Republic, need to know what their government is doing. The opinion must be declassified in order for us to know what we are doing in Congress to take a vote on this. Without transparency, the American people and their elected Representatives cannot have a meaningful, fact-driven debate about the future of this powerful authority. Reports indicate the opinion will show persistent, systemic violations of the law, including U.S. person queries that directly violate the oversight requirements Congress established in the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, just from a couple of years ago. One filtering tool tied to these violations has been shut down, but similar tools remain in use. This is exactly why I have consistently pushed for a warrant requirement for U.S. person queries. The Fourth Amendment is not ambiguous. It says, ``no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause''--not sometimes, not when it is convenient, not unless the intelligence community thinks it takes too long. We keep hearing the same tired argument: Getting a warrant is too hard. Getting a warrant takes too long. That is simply false. The work we have done in my bill, H.R. 7816, the Protect Liberty and End Warrantless Surveillance Act, ensures that is the case. H.R. 7816 includes targeted, practical exceptions for imminent threats, cybersecurity emergencies, and consent situations. It protects Americans and preserves the government's ability to act quickly when lives are on the line. Anyone claiming otherwise either hasn't taken the time to read the bill, has read some propaganda, has accepted the intelligence community's narrative, or simply does not want reform. As we in Congress keep negotiating what FISA and section 702 reform should look like, we seem to be forgetting that my bill is already the negotiated bill. We worked with a wide range of Members and stakeholders. We built a bipartisan coalition, and last Congress, we reached a 212-212 vote on my warrant requirement, one vote away from passing. It was sitting at 212-211 for a long time, and then someone came in and cast a ``no'' vote. This is fundamentally the same bill. The work has been done. The consensus exists. The excuses have run out. Meanwhile, the intelligence community continues to assure us that: This time, we will follow the rules; this time, we will respect the Constitution; and this time, we will stop violating Americans' privacy. Mr. Speaker, we have heard that promise for a decade and more. The latest FISA court opinion, the one they are trying to keep classified, proves those promises are empty. President Trump's administration took historic steps to increase transparency across government, and I appreciate former Director Gabbard's stated commitment to declassify this FISC opinion. The commitment must be honored. Declassification is essential to restoring trust, strengthening accountability, and ensuring every branch of government operates within constitutional limits. At the end of the day, this debate com

Referenced legislation: HR7816