Congress Buys Itself Another Three Weeks on Section 702

On Dec. 21, the House and Senate voted 238-188 and 66-32, respectively, to pass a concurring resolution extending government funding until Jan. 19, 2018. One provision of that bill extended the FISA Amendments Act Section 702 reauthorization deadline to that date. Section 702 was previously set to sunset on Dec. 31, 2017. The relevant provision is included below. (Note: The date specified in Section 106(3) is Jan. 19.)

(a) Notwithstanding the dates specified in section 403(b) of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–261; 122 Stat. 2474), the amendments made by such section shall not take effect until the date specified in section 106(3) of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (division D of Public Law 115–56), as amended.

(b) If during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on the date specified in section 106(3) of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (division D of Public Law 115–56), as amended, any Act amending the dates specified in section 403(b) of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–261; 122 Stat. 2474) is enacted, this section shall be repealed.