Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said Congress must continue foreign intelligence surveillance authorities while adding stronger protections for Americans whose communications are incidentally collected under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Speaking Monday on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Harris weighed in on the future of Section 702 of FISA, which is scheduled to expire June 12 unless Congress acts, amid a growing debate over privacy protections and government surveillance.

"We do need to surveil foreigners," Harris said. "The question is, When you catch Americans in that intelligence net, what do you do with them?"

The comments come as lawmakers face a tight deadline to renew the surveillance authority, which allows U.S. agencies to collect communications from foreign targets overseas without a warrant.

The program has long drawn criticism from privacy advocates and lawmakers in both parties because Americans’ communications can be incidentally collected during surveillance operations.

A Senate procedural vote to advance a long-term extension failed last week after seven Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, leaving the future of the surveillance authority uncertain days before its expiration.

Harris acknowledged concerns about Americans' privacy but argued the legislation under discussion contains improvements.

"We have some concessions on the bill," he said. "We have a provision that actually bans central bank digital currency, which is important to many Americans, included in the bill."

Still, Harris suggested Congress may need additional time to negotiate.

"I don't know if we can get that across the finish line this week," he said. "If not, we'll probably just extend it again and continue the negotiations because every time it comes back, it comes back better in terms of protecting Americans' privacy."

The Maryland Republican also argued that a permanent ban on a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, should be included in any FISA package, linking the issue directly to broader concerns about government surveillance.

"Well it should be included with FISA," Harris said. "You know, this is all about spying on Americans. And the ultimate way to spy on Americans is just to know every single financial transaction you make."

"And because the central bank will control the currency, it can tell you what financial transactions you can make, you can do," he continued. "That's the ultimate spying."

Harris said House conservatives favor a permanent prohibition rather than a temporary restriction.

"We think it's appropriate to include in the bill," he said. "We're glad to see the Senate has a five year ban on it with language that would continue that. Beyond that, but we think we should have a permanent ban on central bank digital currency included in the FISA bill."

The congressman also pointed to concerns about financial surveillance under the previous administration.

"Again, it wasn't that long ago. I remember under the Biden administration, they were surveilling bank transactions, transactions at hunting stores and sporting goods stores, trying to get more information about people," Harris said.

Congress approved a temporary 45-day extension of Section 702 in April after lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a longer-term reauthorization, setting the current June 12 deadline.

Intelligence officials have argued the authority remains critical for tracking foreign adversaries, cyber threats and terrorism, while critics continue to push for additional warrant requirements and other privacy safeguards for Americans.

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