Over nearly a decade of rigorous oversight, no intentional abuse of the Section 702 authority has ever been identified, and the government has quickly taken action to rectify unintentional mistakes. The Section 702 authority has enabled actionable warnings of violent attacks and the collection of information about weapons proliferators and cyberhackers. And it has revealed other threats to our nation’s security.

Nevertheless, any surveillance authority is powerful and must be exercised with prudence and care. Congress engineered Section 702 with substantial constraints, and it is implemented with rigorous oversight by all three branches of our government. The government’s internal training, oversight, technology and inspector-general regime, along with oversight by the Department of Justice, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board — which deserves special praise — and Congress, all ensure that the government uses these important authorities properly.

Safeguarding our nation consists of not only protecting us from threats abroad, but also ensuring we have the appropriate balance of security and privacy in the tools the government uses. There are indeed legitimate privacy concerns with any surveillance, but the significant statutory and oversight protocols address those concerns.

Under President Barack Obama, the National Security Agency used the authority more broadly to acquire internet communications about foreign intelligence targets. Under President Trump’s leadership, we have refined the application of this authority to target only those internet communications sent directly to or from a lawful foreign intelligence target. This smart choice will reduce incidental collection on Americans without sacrificing our security. We proposed, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved, the new procedures, which achieve this goal and protect Americans’ privacy.

Cabinet officials and security professionals from different agencies will testify on this matter on Wednesday. President Trump stands with them 100 percent on the need for permanent reauthorization of Section 702. Officials from the past two administrations also agree that we cannot have a blind spot in our defenses simply because a foreign terrorist on foreign land chooses an American email provider.

We cannot allow adversaries abroad to cloak themselves in the legal protections we extend to Americans. And Section 702 is one of the most effective tools for identifying and preventing threats. Congress should do its part to make America safe again and leave the politics of distraction for another day.