I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1738

To further the protection of constitutional rights in connection with the

conduct of Federal counterterrorism activities.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 25, 1995

Mr. SKAGGS (for himself and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight,

and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee

concerned

A BILL

To further the protection of constitutional rights in connection with the conduct of Federal counterterrorism

activities.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Constitutional Rights

5 Oversight Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GEN2 ERAL FOR FEDERAL COUNTERTERRORISM

3 ACTIVITIES.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AS INDEPENDENT AGENCY.—

5 There is established as an independent agency in the exec6 utive branch of the Government an agency which shall be

7 known as the ‘‘Office of the Inspector General for

8 Counterterrorism Activities’’.

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office shall be to

10 assure that counterterrorism activities of Federal agencies

11 are carried out in a manner fully consistent with the re12 quirements of the Constitution and in particular with the

13 constitutional rights of individuals or groups of individuals

14 who may be the subject of such counterterrorism activities

15 or who are members of a group that may be the subject

16 of such counterterrorism activities.

17 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This Act shall be con18 strued to ensure the fullest protection of constitutional

19 rights.

20 SEC. 3. INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR COUNTERTERRORISM

21 ACTIVITIES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be under the di23 rection and control of the Inspector General for

24 Counterterrorism Activities.

25 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The Inspector General shall be

26 appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
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1 consent of the Senate, and shall report solely to the Presi2 dent. The term of the Inspector General shall be 6 years.

3 (c) GENERAL FUNCTIONS.—The Inspector General

4 shall—

5 (1) protect against abuses of constitutional

6 rights and civil liberties in the conduct of Federal

7 counterterrorism activities, as provided in this Act;

8 and

9 (2) with respect to counterterrorism agencies,

10 perform all functions that are performed under the

11 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) with

12 respect to establishments by Inspectors General of

13 establishments, without regard to section 8E of that

14 Act.

15 (d) POWERS.—For the purpose of performing any

16 function authorized under this Act, the Inspector General

17 may exercise any power that is available under the Inspec18 tor General Act of 1978 to an Inspector General of an

19 establishment, except that section 8E of that Act does not

20 apply to the Inspector General.

21 SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS RELATING TO PROTECTION OF CON22 STITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

23 (a) DOCUMENTS RELATED TO SURVEILLANCE AND

24 OTHER ACTIVITIES.—Each Federal official submitting to

25 a court or another official any request for authorization
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1 for a search, wiretap, or other surveillance activity to be

2 conducted for counterterrorism purposes or for deporta3 tion of any individual for reasons related to

4 counterterrorism purposes shall as soon as practicable

5 provide to the Inspector General a copy of the request to6 gether with all documents submitted to such court or offi7 cial in support of such request.

8 (b) ACTIONS TO PROTECT CONSTITUTIONAL

9 RIGHTS.—The Inspector General may provide to any

10 court or another official receiving a request under sub11 section (a) a response to such request and may propose

12 that such court or official take such action in response

13 to such request as the Inspector General finds appropriate

14 in order to assure the protection of the constitutional

15 rights of any person likely to be affected by the granting

16 of such request.

17 (c) PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT.—(1) The Inspector Gen18 eral shall provide for receipt and review of suggestions or

19 complaints regarding the consistency with constitutional

20 requirements of the conduct of counterterrorism activities

21 by Federal agencies.

22 (2) The Inspector General may refer any suggestion

23 or complaint described in paragraph (1) to the appropriate

24 Federal agency or agencies. Any agency to which such a

25 suggestion or complaint is referred shall provide the In-
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1 spector General with a full and timely response to such

2 suggestion or complaint.

3 (d) REPORTS.—(1) The Inspector General shall sub4 mit to the Congress and the President annual reports re5 viewing compliance by counterterrorism agencies with pro6 tection of constitutional rights. The Inspector General

7 shall also submit such special reports as the Inspector con8 siders appropriate to promote full protection of constitu9 tional rights with respect to counterterrorism activities of

10 Federal agencies.

11 (2) The Inspector General shall submit, with any re12 port under this subsection that contains classified infor13 mation, an unclassified summary.

14 SEC. 5. RELATIONSHIP TO LAWS REQUIRING SECURITY

15 CLEARANCE.

16 This Act shall not be considered or construed to af17 fect any Federal law that requires the Inspector General

18 or any personnel of the Office to obtain security clearance.

19 The President shall take all steps necessary to assure that

20 the Inspector General and any personnel of the Office are

21 authorized, in accordance with those laws, to obtain all

22 information appropriate for full implementation of this

23 Act and the protection of constitutional rights.
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1 SEC. 6. REFERENCES TO HEAD OF ESTABLISHMENT IN IN2 SPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 1978.

3 For purposes of sections 2 and 3(a), a reference in

4 the Inspector General Act of 1978 to the head of an estab5 lishment shall be treated as a reference to the President.

6 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) The term ‘‘counterterrorism agency’’ means

9 any Federal agency involved in counterterrorism ac10 tivities.

11 (2) The term ‘‘establishment’’ has the meaning

12 given that term in section 11 of the Inspector Gen13 eral Act of 1978.

14 (3) Except to the extent the context indicates

15 otherwise, the term ‘‘Inspector General’’ means the

16 Inspector General for Counterterrorism Activities

17 appointed under this Act.

18 (4) The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Office of the

19 Inspector General for Counterterrorism Activities es20 tablished by this Act.

21 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such

23 sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of

24 this Act.

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