Contact: Caroline Rabbitt Tabler (202) 224-2353
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today released the following statement after the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence passed legislation by a vote of 12-3 to extend Title VII of FISA, including Section 702:
“Today, the Senate Intelligence Committee rightly passed legislation that will reauthorize one of our most valuable intelligence-gathering tools. I’m also glad it included a provision I offered to increase the maximum penalty for leaking classified information to 10 years. Currently, the punishment is a mere one year in prison. That’s a pittance compared to the threat these leaks pose to our national security — and to American lives. Now, I urge all of my Senate colleagues to vote for the entire bill, including its extension of the FISA Section 702 program. Our national security depends on it.”