We Can’t Return to a Pre-9/11 Mindset on Foreign Surveillance

The U.S. faces threats from every corner of the globe. Chinese-made fentanyl and its chemical precursors pour through the southern border, and the Communist Party menaces in the Indo-Pacific. Iran’s terrorist proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, fire on American allies and troops in the Mideast. North Korea tests ballistic missiles. Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine. Each of them endangers Americans at home to boot.

America’s security depends on our ability to understand and respond to these threats. Yet Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, the primary method for gathering intel against such threats, expires Dec. 31. Letting it lapse over misplaced concerns about Americans’ privacy would be an egregious mistake.