A significant provision in a contentious surveillance law is set to expire at the end of the year, and a number of lawmakers are scrambling to either re-enact the legislation permanently or find its statutory replacement.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was created through congressional amendments to a prior bill, allows federal intelligence agencies to collect data on foreigners suspected of crimes. But due to the broad powers enumerated in the law and the inherent nature of surveillance, the electronic communications of law-abiding Americans are often scooped up as well.