With bipartisan backing, the House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would renew one of the government's most sweeping surveillance authorities for six years with minimal changes.
The measure, which passed 256-164, reauthorized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was set to expire later this month.
The law was first passed in 2008 to legalize President George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. It allows the National Security Agency to collect Americans' communications with people overseas, as long as the NSA is “targeting” the foreigners involved.
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