House to take up bill to reauthorize crucial US spy program as expiration date looms

By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is set to consider a bill next week that would reauthorize a surveillance program that U.S. officials consider vital to national security but that critics say raises privacy concerns. The action comes shortly before the program known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expires on April 19. Though the prospect for passage is uncertain, senior administration officials said in a call with reporters on Friday that they believed the bill preserved the most critical aspects of the spy program while also including guardrails. Section 702 permits the U.S. government to collect without a warrant the communications of non-Americans located outside the country for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence.