WASHINGTON, D.C (Press Release) — U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) and other members of the House and Senate hailed bipartisan action on Wednesday, May 7, by the House Judiciary Committee to curb data-collection programs of the National Security Agency (NSA).
“(The) strong, bipartisan vote by the House Judiciary Committee takes us one step closer to ending bulk collection once and for all and safeguards Americans’ civil liberties as our intelligence community keeps us safe from foreign enemies who wish us harm. For nearly a year, the House Judiciary Committee has examined our nation’s intelligence-gathering programs operated under FISA and has worked together across party lines and with the Obama Administration to reach this bipartisan solution that includes real protections for Americans’ civil liberties, robust oversight, and additional transparency. As the Committee of primary jurisdiction, we urge the House and Senate to move expeditiously on this legislation so that we can begin to restore confidence in the way intelligence is gathered and protect the privacy rights of all Americans.”
Below are key provisions of H.R. 3361, as approved by the House Judiciary Committee today.
Prohibits Bulk Collection of Data: The bill protects Americans’ privacy by prohibiting bulk collection under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act (Section 501 of FISA), under the FISA Pen Register/Trap and Trace law (Section 402 of FISA), and under National Security Letter statutes.
New Mechanism for Obtaining Call Records: To ensure national security officials have the needed information to keep Americans safe while enhancing Americans’ confidence in the manner in which this information is collected and held, the bill creates a new process for the collection of call detail records. The government would be required to seek approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) of specific selection terms on a case-by-case basis. The FISC is authorized to allow up to two “hops.” The government may renew these orders every 180 days.
Protects Americans’ Privacy: The bill codifies current minimization procedures, requiring the government to adopt procedures that are reasonably designed to minimize the retention and prohibit the dissemination of nonpublic information about Americans. It also clarifies the existing provision in the FISA Amendments Act against reverse targeting and reiterates Congress’ intent in protecting the communications of Americans. Additionally, it prohibits the government from using unlawfully obtained information about Americans acquired outside the scope of court-approved targeting and minimization procedures.
Ensures Robust Oversight of Intelligence-Gathering Programs: The bill increases oversight of our intelligence-gathering programs by providing for judicial review of minimization procedures for the production of tangible things, such as emails and phone calls.
Increases Transparency of Intelligence-Gathering Programs: The bill creates a panel of legal experts to help ensure the FISA court adequately considers privacy concerns and Constitutional rights of Americans and also requires the Attorney General to conduct a declassification review of each decision, order, or opinion of the FISA court that includes a significant construction or interpretation of the law. The bill also requires the government to disclose the number of requests made for call detail records under the new collection program and requires the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to publicly report annually the number of FISA orders issued, modified, or denied by the FISC.
Allows American Tech Companies to Disclose FISA Orders: The Committee today approved an amendment offered by Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-Wa.), Chairman Goodlatte, and Crime Subcommittee Chairman Sensenbrenner to allow companies to semi-annually publicly report requests for information they receive under FISA and National Security Letter authorities. This amendment codifies the Justice Department’s settlement with several companies earlier this year while making additional modifications to allow for even greater transparency to the American people about their privacy and the extent of the intelligence community’s work, while protecting national security.
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In addition to Nadler, other Jewish members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, tracked by San Diego Jewish World, had these comments:
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut): “The House Judiciary Committee’s action today is a crucial step in the right direction. However, it is not enough. This legislation makes important changes to some of the statutes that have allowed massive and widespread violations of Americans’ privacy, but it does not reform the underlying system that made those violations possible—a system in which secret courts make secret law without the benefit of hearing both sides of the argument. Real reform means turning the FISA courts into a real check on executive overreach by creating a Special Advocate who can represent the privacy rights of the American people. I will continue fighting to ensure that FISA reform ultimately includes a strong Special Advocate capable of holding the government accountable and protecting our privacy.”
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon.) who serves on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and have been at the forefront of the bipartisan and bicameral effort to rein in NSA overreach and end the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records, welcomed the U.S. House of Representatives’ step today toward reforming the NSA’s domestic surveillance.
“I will continue to fight for additional steps to protect both American security and American liberty, like closing the back-door searches loophole and installing a constitutional advocate at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court,” Wyden said. “But this is a meaningful step forward for Americans constitutional rights and I congratulate the House Judiciary Committee for taking it on such a strong bipartisan basis. If you had told me a year ago that this was going to happen today, I would have said you were being incredibly optimistic. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on this historic reform effort.
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Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island): “The National Security Agency surveillance programs that have allowed bulk collection of data on millions of Americans violates well established and long standing principles against unreasonable government intrusion into the private lives of American citizens. Today’s bipartisan vote is an important step toward vindicating these principles and will help protect Americans’ privacy rights. Now that this bill has passed committee, I will continue to work with the full House to make this version of the USA FREEDOM Act law.
“Following 9/11 the Bush Administration expanded the powers of the National Security Agency and its surveillance programs, and those practices have continued in recent years. This legislation ends the NSA’s authority to collect bulk data, improves transparency, and provides for necessary judicial review and appropriate legal standards of government collection of information.
“This bill does not address all of my concerns to reform our intelligence gathering programs to meet our nation’s security and privacy needs, but it is a good compromise. For example, I advocated for adopting new judicial review standards for the government’s use of National Security Letters as outlined by President Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies.
“I am very pleased the House Judiciary Committee worked together in a bipartisan way and in a public forum to reach this agreement and will work with the full House to swiftly move this legislation forward.”
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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California), a senior Member of the Intelligence Committee which also adopted legislation to curb NSA practices, offered and withdrew an amendment based on legislation he has introduced called the “Ensuring Adversarial Process Before the FISA Court Act” which would have established a panel of attorneys to participate in cases before the FISA Court involving novel legal and technical issues and to argue on behalf of protections for privacy and civil liberties.
Schiff stated: “The bill reported unanimously today (Wednesday, March 7) by the Intelligence Committee is a very important step on the road to ending bulk collection and reforming the metadata program. It is also an indication of the emerging consensus on how to reform our surveillance authorities while preserving the capabilities we need to protect our nation. The bill we passed ends bulk collection, and moves to a model where the telecommunications providers hold their own data. It also largely tracks the Telephone Metadata Reform Act that I introduced in January, which requires FISC approval before a query is made to the telephone companies in the absence of exigent circumstances.
“I appreciate the work done by both the intelligence and judiciary committee members and leadership to find compromise and move forward. There is still much work to be done, and I hope to make more progress as the debate moves towards the floor. Among the areas I believe the bill can improve are strengthening the provisions to provide for an adversarial process in the FISA Court and permitting more informative transparency reporting by service providers and Internet companies.”
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Preceding provided by Reps. Nadler,Cicilline, Schiff and Senators Wyden and Blumenthal