Section 702 is a critical foreign intelligence authority, but we cannot in good conscience vote for reauthorization without significant reforms to protect both national security and the constitutional privacy rights of Americans.
Refuse to vote for reauthorization of FISA Section 702 unless significant reforms are enacted to protect national security and Americans' constitutional privacy rights.
Occurrences
Evidence
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Roll Call 14 on January 11, 2018 was on agreeing to the Amash of Michigan Substitute Amendment No. 1 to S. 139. The amendment failed, 183 yea to 233 nay. Clark (MA), Democrat, Massachusetts, voted Yea.
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Roll Call 16 on January 11, 2018 was on passage of S. 139. The bill passed, 256 yea to 164 nay. Clark (MA), Democrat, Massachusetts, voted Nay.
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Congress.gov records that S. 139 became Public Law No. 115-118 on January 19, 2018. The CRS summary says the bill directed DOJ to adopt querying procedures, generally required a court order for FBI review of query results in criminal investigations unrelated to national security, and reauthorized Title VII of FISA until December 31, 2023.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Congress.gov describes H.Amdt.876 as an amendment to prohibit warrantless searches of U.S. person communications in the FISA 702 database, with exceptions for imminent threats to life or bodily harm, consent searches, or known cybersecurity threat signatures. The amendment failed by recorded vote, 212-212.
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Roll Call 114 was on agreeing to Biggs of Arizona Amendment No. 1 to H.R. 7888. The amendment failed, 212 aye to 212 no. Clark (MA), Democrat, Massachusetts, voted No.
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Congress.gov records that H.R. 7888 became Public Law No. 118-49 on April 20, 2024. The CRS summary says the act reauthorizes Title VII of FISA for two years and expands restrictions on surveillance under Section 702, including FBI prior approval for U.S. person queries, audits of U.S. person queries, and DOJ Inspector General reporting on FBI querying practices.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Roll Call 119 on April 12, 2024 was on passage of H.R. 7888, the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act. The bill passed, 273 aye to 147 no. Clark (MA), Democrat, Massachusetts, voted Aye.
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H.R. 9238 would extend Title VII FISA authorities. The Clerk recorded Status: Failed, 198 yea to 218 nay; Clark (MA) voted Nay.
legacy_unverified · Source version not recorded · locator unknown
Clark joined House Democratic leaders saying they could not vote for Section 702 reauthorization without significant reforms and opposed the bill.
Assessments
Clark fulfilled the refusal posture on the 2018 Section 702 reauthorization by voting for a reform substitute and then voting against final passage. However, her later 2024 record is mixed: she voted against the warrant-search amendment and then voted for H.R. 7888, which reauthorized Section 702 with some reforms but without the major warrant-search protection at issue. Her 2026 vote against a short-term extension again matched the promise. Because the promise describes an ongoing condition for reauthorization votes and the record includes both compliance and a later vote for reauthorization despite incomplete privacy reforms, this is best scored as partial rather than fully delivered.
Clark substantially matched the pledge in the 2018 Section 702 reauthorization fight: she voted for the Amash reform substitute and then voted against final passage of S. 139. However, in 2024 she voted against the Biggs warrant-search amendment and then voted for H.R. 7888, which reauthorized Section 702-related authorities. That 2024 law did include some privacy and oversight reforms, but it did not include the stronger warrant requirement central to the reform fight. Because she made real reform efforts and refused reauthorization in 2018, but later supported a reauthorization after only limited reforms, the promise is best scored as partial rather than delivered or never.