NSA Legislation Since the Leaks Began
& Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
Since the Guardian published the FISA Court order mandating Verizon Business Network Services hand over all its customers' phone records to the National Security Agency in early June, Congress has responded with bill after bill to rein in the NSA's surveillance programs, increase transparency, and reform how the secret FISA Court is staffed and operates.
Currently there are 19 bills pending in Congress with more expected to be introduced. The legislation can be broken down into four broad categories: 1) substantive reforms to the laws the NSA believes allow it to conduct its surveillance programs, 2) disclosure of the FISA Court opinions that determined the programs were legal, 3) general reporting of the number and types of surveillance orders received by recipients and how many users affected, and 4) reforms to the FISA Court.
(For more on NSA surveillance, click here.)
With the recent narrow defeat of the Amash Amendment to defund the bulk phone records' collection program, and more disclosures coming, Congress is more engaged on the issue of the government's suspicionless collection and surveillance of Americans' communications than it ever has been over the last decade. The ACLU will continue to work with Congress to stop the government's spying on innocent people as well as force disclosure about how these programs are used and the secret court rulings that support them. (This list will be updated as events dictate.)
SUBSTANTIVE BILLS
LEAD (total 8.2.13) | BILL NUMBER & TITLE | SUMMARY OF REFORMS |
Conyers-Amash (51) | H.R.2399: LIBERT-E Act | 215 Orders:
|
Leahy (11) | S.1215: FISA Accountability and Privacy Protection Act of 2013 | 215 Orders:
Reporting:
Sunsets:
|
Udall-Wyden (9) | S.1182: A bill to modify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to require specific evidence for access to business records and other tangible things, and provide appropriate transition procedures, and for other purposes. | 215 Orders:
|
Sanders (1) | S.1168: Restore Our Privacy Act | 215 Orders:
|
Paul (1) | S.1121: Fourth Amendment Restoration Act of 2013 | 4th Amendment shall be interpreted to require gov't to obtain a probable cause warrant to search Americans' phone records |
Ross (1) | H.R.2603: Relevancy Act | 215 Orders: Requires that records sought in application are "related to a specific person that is the subject of an investigation: and that any investigation must "be conducted of a specific person or specific group of persons" |
Holt (1) | H.R.2818: To repeal the USA PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, and for other purposes. | Repeals the Patriot Act and the FISA Amendments Act FISC Reform:
|
Lynch (3) | H.R.2684: Telephone Surveillance Accountability Act of 2013 | Searches of Telephony Metadata: Requires judge to issue order to FBI Dir. finding "reasonable, articulable suspicion that the basis of the search is material and specifically relevant to an authorized investigation and enters an order authorizing such search" before searches through collected metadata may be conducted |
DISCLOSURE - COURT OPINIONS, GOVERNMENT STATISTICS
LEAD (total 8.2.13) | BILL NUMBER & TITLE | SUMMARY OF REFORMS |
Schiff-Rokita (29) | H.R.2475: Ending Secret Law Act | 215 Order and FAA Opinion Disclosure: Declassify and make publicly available:
|
Merkley-Lee (15) | S.1130: Ending Secret Law Act | 215 Order and FAA Opinion Disclosure: Declassify and make publicly available:
|
Jackson-Lee (13) | H.R.2440: FISA Court in the Sunshine Act of 2013 | 215 Order and FAA Opinion Disclosure: Declassify and make publicly available:
|
DISCLOSURE - CORPORATE SIDE
LEAD (total 8.2.13) | BILL NUMBER & TITLE | SUMMARY OF REFORMS |
Larsen-Amash (4) | H.R.2736: Government Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013 | FISA order recipient may report every 90 days on:
|
Lofgren (10) | H.R. 3035: Surveillance Order Reporting Act of 2013 | Public Reporting of Orders Under FISA (50 USC 1801 et seq.), NSLs (18 USC 2709), RFPA (12 USC 3414(a)(5)(A)), FCRA (15 USC 1681u(a),(b), and v(a)), and Nat'l Sec. Act (50 USC 436(a)): Allows electronic service providers to, on a quarterly basis, publicly report estimates, rounded to the nearest 100, of:
|
Franken (11) | S.1452: Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013 | Reporting on FAA: Annual reports to AOUSC and Congress must include
|
FISC REFORM
LEAD (total 8.2.13) | BILL NUMBER & TITLE | SUMMARY OF REFORMS |
Blumenthal (9) | S.1460: FISA Judge Selection Reform Act of 2013 | Reforms Appointment Process and Make-Up of FISC:
|
Blumenthal (16) | S.1467: FISA Court Reform Act of 2013 | Office of the Special Advocate in executive branch:
|
Schiff (10) | H.R.2761: Presidential Appointment of FISA Court Judges Act | Designation of FISC Judges: Appointment of FISC judges by the "President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate" |
Cohen (12) | H.R.2586: FISA Court Accountability Act | Designation of FISC Judges: 11 judges
|
Lynch (2) | H.R.2849: Privacy Advocate General Act of 2013 | Creates Office of the Privacy Advocate General (PAG):
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