I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4943 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to improve law enforcement access 

to data stored across borders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2018 

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. ISSA, Ms. 

DELBENE, Mr. MARINO, Mr. RUTHERFORD, and Mrs. DEMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, 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 amend title 18, United States Code, to improve law 

enforcement access to data stored across borders, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Clarifying Lawful 

5 Overseas Use of Data Act’’ or the ‘‘CLOUD Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Timely access to electronic data held by 

2 communications-service providers is an essential 

3 component of government efforts to protect public 

4 safety and combat serious crime, including ter5 rorism. 

6 (2) Such efforts by the United States Govern7 ment are being impeded by the inability to access 

8 data stored outside the United States that is in the 

9 custody, control, or possession of communications10 service providers that are subject to jurisdiction of 

11 the United States. 

12 (3) Foreign governments also increasingly seek 

13 access to electronic data held by communications14 service providers in the United States for the pur15 pose of combating serious crime. 

16 (4) Communications-service providers face po17 tential conflicting legal obligations when a foreign 

18 government orders production of electronic data that 

19 United States law may prohibit providers from dis20 closing. 

21 (5) Foreign law may create similarly conflicting 

22 legal obligations when chapter 121 of title 18, 

23 United States Code (commonly known as the 

24 ‘‘Stored Communications Act’’), requires disclosure 


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1 of electronic data that foreign law prohibits commu2 nications-service providers from disclosing. 

3 (6) International agreements provide a mecha4 nism for resolving these potential conflicting legal 

5 obligations where the United States and the relevant 

6 foreign government share a common commitment to 

7 the rule of law and the protection of privacy and 

8 civil liberties. 

9 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF RECORDS; COMITY ANALYSIS OF 

10 LEGAL PROCESS. 

11 (a) REQUIRED PRESERVATION AND DISCLOSURE OF

12 COMMUNICATIONS AND RECORDS.— 

13 (1) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 121 of title 18, 

14 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘§ 2713. Required preservation and disclosure of com17 munications and records 

18 ‘‘A provider of electronic communication service or 

19 remote computing service shall comply with the obligations 

20 of this chapter to preserve, backup, or disclose the con21 tents of a wire or electronic communication and any record 

22 or other information pertaining to a customer or sub23 scriber within such provider’s possession, custody, or con24 trol, regardless of whether such communication, record, or 


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1 other information is located within or outside of the 

2 United States.’’. 

3 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 

4 for chapter 121 of title 18, United States Code, is 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec6 tion 2712 the following: 

‘‘2713. Required preservation and disclosure of communications and records.’’. 

7 (b) COMITY ANALYSIS OF LEGAL PROCESS SEEKING

8 CONTENTS OF WIRE OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICA9 TION.—Section 2703 of title 18, United States Code, is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(h) COMITY ANALYSIS AND DISCLOSURE OF INFOR12 MATION REGARDING LEGAL PROCESS SEEKING CON13 TENTS OF WIRE OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘qualifying foreign govern16 ment’ means a foreign government— 

17 ‘‘(i) with which the United States has 

18 an executive agreement that has entered 

19 into force under section 2523; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the laws of which provide to elec21 tronic communication service providers and 

22 remote computing service providers sub23 stantive and procedural opportunities simi24 lar to those provided under paragraphs (2) 

25 and (5); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘United States person’ has 

2 the meaning given the term in section 2523. 

3 ‘‘(2) MOTIONS TO QUASH OR MODIFY.—(A) A 

4 provider of electronic communication service to the 

5 public or remote computing service, that is being re6 quired to disclose pursuant to legal process issued 

7 under this section the contents of a wire or elec8 tronic communication of a subscriber or customer, 

9 may file a motion to modify or quash the legal proc10 ess where the provider reasonably believes— 

11 ‘‘(i) that the customer or subscriber is not 

12 a United States person and does not reside in 

13 the United States; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) that the required disclosure would 

15 create a material risk that the provider would 

16 violate the laws of a qualifying foreign govern17 ment. 

18 Such a motion shall be filed not later than 14 days 

19 after the date on which the provider was served with 

20 the legal process, absent agreement with the govern21 ment or permission from the court to extend the 

22 deadline based on an application made within the 14 

23 days. The right to move to quash is without preju24 dice to any other grounds to move to quash or de25 fenses thereto, but it shall be the sole basis for movVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Feb 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4943.IH H4943

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1 ing to quash on the grounds of a conflict of law re2 lated to a qualifying foreign government. 

3 ‘‘(B) Upon receipt of a motion filed pursuant to 

4 subparagraph (A), the court shall afford the govern5 mental entity that applied for or issued the legal 

6 process under this section the opportunity to re7 spond. The court may modify or quash the legal 

8 process, as appropriate, only if the court finds 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(i) the required disclosure would cause 

11 the provider to violate the laws of a qualifying 

12 foreign government; 

13 ‘‘(ii) based on the totality of the cir14 cumstances, the interests of justice dictate that 

15 the legal process should be modified or quashed; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the customer or subscriber is not a 

18 United States person and does not reside in the 

19 United States. 

20 ‘‘(3) COMITY ANALYSIS.—For purposes of mak21 ing a determination under paragraph (2)(B)(ii), the 

22 court shall take into account, as appropriate— 

23 ‘‘(A) the interests of the United States, in24 cluding the investigative interests of the govern25 mental entity seeking to require the disclosure; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the interests of the qualifying foreign 

2 government in preventing any prohibited disclo3 sure; 

4 ‘‘(C) the likelihood, extent, and nature of 

5 penalties to the provider or any employees of 

6 the provider as a result of inconsistent legal re7 quirements imposed on the provider; 

8 ‘‘(D) the location and nationality of the 

9 subscriber or customer whose communications 

10 are being sought, if known, and the nature and 

11 extent of the subscriber or customer’s connec12 tion to the United States, or if the legal process 

13 has been sought on behalf of a foreign authority 

14 pursuant to section 3512, the nature and extent 

15 of the subscriber or customer’s connection to 

16 the foreign authority’s country; 

17 ‘‘(E) the nature and extent of the pro18 vider’s ties to and presence in the United 

19 States; 

20 ‘‘(F) the importance to the investigation of 

21 the information required to be disclosed; 

22 ‘‘(G) the likelihood of timely and effective 

23 access to the information required to be dis24 closed through means that would cause less se25 rious negative consequences; and 


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1 ‘‘(H) if the legal process has been sought 

2 on behalf of a foreign authority pursuant to 

3 section 3512, the investigative interests of the 

4 foreign authority making the request for assist5 ance. 

6 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE OBLIGATIONS DURING PEND7 ENCY OF CHALLENGE.—A service provider shall pre8 serve, but not be obligated to produce, information 

9 sought during the pendency of a motion brought 

10 under this subsection, unless the court finds that im11 mediate production is necessary to prevent an ad12 verse result identified in section 2705(a)(2). 

13 ‘‘(5) DISCLOSURE TO QUALIFYING FOREIGN

14 GOVERNMENT.—(A) It shall not constitute a viola15 tion of a protective order issued under section 2705 

16 for a provider of electronic communication service to 

17 the public or remote computing service to disclose to 

18 the entity within a qualifying foreign government, 

19 designated in an executive agreement under section 

20 2523, the fact of the existence of legal process 

21 issued under this section seeking the contents of a 

22 wire or electronic communication of a customer or 

23 subscriber who is a national or resident of the quali24 fying foreign government. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be con2 strued to modify or otherwise affect any other au3 thority to make a motion to modify or quash a pro4 tective order issued under section 2705.’’. 

5 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec6 tion, or an amendment made by this section, shall be con7 strued to modify or otherwise affect the common law 

8 standards governing the availability or application of com9 ity analysis to other types of compulsory process or to in10 stances of compulsory process issued under section 2703 

11 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by this sec12 tion, and not covered under subsection (h)(2) of such sec13 tion 2703. 

14 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS TO CURRENT COMMU15 NICATIONS LAWS. 

16 Title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) in chapter 119— 

18 (A) in section 2511(2), by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘(j) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for 

21 a provider of electronic communication service to the pub22 lic or remote computing service to intercept or disclose the 

23 contents of a wire or electronic communication in response 

24 to an order from a foreign government that is subject to 

25 an executive agreement that the Attorney General has deVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Feb 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4943.IH H4943

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1 termined and certified to Congress satisfies section 

2 2523.’’; and 

3 (B) in section 2520(d), by amending para4 graph (3) to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(3) a good faith determination that section 

6 2511(3), 2511(2)(i), or 2511(2)(j) of this title per7 mitted the conduct complained of;’’; 

8 (2) in chapter 121— 

9 (A) in section 2702— 

10 (i) in subsection (b)— 

11 (I) in paragraph (8), by striking 

12 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

13 or’’; and 

14 (II) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(9) to a foreign government pursuant to an 

17 order from a foreign government that is subject to 

18 an executive agreement that the Attorney General 

19 has determined and certified to Congress satisfies 

20 section 2523.’’; and 

21 (ii) in subsection (c)— 

22 (I) in paragraph (5), by striking 

23 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 


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1 (II) in paragraph (6), by striking 

2 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

3 or’’; and 

4 (III) by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(7) to a foreign government pursuant to an 

7 order from a foreign government that is subject to 

8 an executive agreement that the Attorney General 

9 has determined and certified to Congress satisfies 

10 section 2523.’’; and 

11 (B) in section 2707(e), by amending para12 graph (3) to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(3) a good faith determination that section 

14 2511(3), section 2702(b)(9), or section 2702(c)(7) 

15 of this title permitted the conduct complained of;’’; 

16 and 

17 (3) in chapter 206— 

18 (A) in section 3121(a), by inserting before 

19 the period at the end the following: ‘‘or an 

20 order from a foreign government that is subject 

21 to an executive agreement that the Attorney 

22 General has determined and certified to Con23 gress satisfies section 2523’’; and 

24 (B) in section 3124— 


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1 (i) by amending subsection (d) to read 

2 as follows: 

3 ‘‘(d) NO CAUSE OF ACTION AGAINST A PROVIDER

4 DISCLOSING INFORMATION UNDER THIS CHAPTER.—No 

5 cause of action shall lie in any court against any provider 

6 of a wire or electronic communication service, its officers, 

7 employees, agents, or other specified persons for providing 

8 information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with a 

9 court order under this chapter, request pursuant to section 

10 3125 of this title, or an order from a foreign government 

11 that is subject to an executive agreement that the Attor12 ney General has determined and certified to Congress sat13 isfies section 2523.’’; and 

14 (ii) by amending subsection (e) to 

15 read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(e) DEFENSE.—A good faith reliance on a court 

17 order under this chapter, a request pursuant to section 

18 3125 of this title, a legislative authorization, a statutory 

19 authorization, or a good faith determination that the con20 duct complained of was permitted by an order from a for21 eign government that is subject to executive agreement 

22 that the Attorney General has determined and certified 

23 to Congress satisfies section 2523, is a complete defense 

24 against any civil or criminal action brought under this 

25 chapter or any other law.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS ON ACCESS TO DATA BY 

2 FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 119 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 2523. Executive agreements on access to data by 

7 foreign governments 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘lawfully admitted for permanent 

10 residence’ has the meaning given the term in section 

11 101(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

12 U.S.C. 1101(a)); and 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘United States person’ means a 

14 citizen or national of the United States, an alien 

15 lawfully admitted for permanent residence, an unin16 corporated association a substantial number of mem17 bers of which are citizens of the United States or 

18 aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or 

19 a corporation that is incorporated in the United 

20 States. 

21 ‘‘(b) EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 For purposes of this chapter, chapter 121, and chapter 

23 206, an executive agreement governing access by a foreign 

24 government to data subject to this chapter, chapter 121, 

25 or chapter 206 shall be considered to satisfy the require26 ments of this section if the Attorney General, with the conVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Feb 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4943.IH H4943

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1 currence of the Secretary of State, determines, and sub2 mits a written certification of such determination to Con3 gress, that— 

4 ‘‘(1) the domestic law of the foreign govern5 ment, including the implementation of that law, af6 fords robust substantive and procedural protections 

7 for privacy and civil liberties in light of the data col8 lection and activities of the foreign government that 

9 will be subject to the agreement, if— 

10 ‘‘(A) such a determination under this sec11 tion takes into account, as appropriate, credible 

12 information and expert input; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the factors to be considered in mak14 ing such a determination include whether the 

15 foreign government— 

16 ‘‘(i) has adequate substantive and pro17 cedural laws on cybercrime and electronic 

18 evidence, as demonstrated by being a party 

19 to the Convention on Cybercrime, done at 

20 Budapest November 23, 2001, and entered 

21 into force January 7, 2004, or through do22 mestic laws that are consistent with defini23 tions and the requirements set forth in 

24 chapters I and II of that Convention; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates respect for the rule 

2 of law and principles of nondiscrimination; 

3 ‘‘(iii) adheres to applicable inter4 national human rights obligations and 

5 commitments or demonstrates respect for 

6 international universal human rights, in7 cluding— 

8 ‘‘(I) protection from arbitrary 

9 and unlawful interference with pri10 vacy; 

11 ‘‘(II) fair trial rights; 

12 ‘‘(III) freedom of expression, as13 sociation, and peaceful assembly; 

14 ‘‘(IV) prohibitions on arbitrary 

15 arrest and detention; and 

16 ‘‘(V) prohibitions against torture 

17 and cruel, inhuman, or degrading 

18 treatment or punishment; 

19 ‘‘(iv) has clear legal mandates and 

20 procedures governing those entities of the 

21 foreign government that are authorized to 

22 seek data under the executive agreement, 

23 including procedures through which those 

24 authorities collect, retain, use, and share 


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1 data, and effective oversight of these ac2 tivities; 

3 ‘‘(v) has sufficient mechanisms to pro4 vide accountability and appropriate trans5 parency regarding the collection and use of 

6 electronic data by the foreign government; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(vi) demonstrates a commitment to 

9 promote and protect the global free flow of 

10 information and the open, distributed, and 

11 interconnected nature of the Internet; 

12 ‘‘(2) the foreign government has adopted appro13 priate procedures to minimize the acquisition, reten14 tion, and dissemination of information concerning 

15 United States persons subject to the agreement; and 

16 ‘‘(3) the agreement requires that, with respect 

17 to any order that is subject to the agreement— 

18 ‘‘(A) the foreign government may not in19 tentionally target a United States person or a 

20 person located in the United States, and shall 

21 adopt targeting procedures designed to meet 

22 this requirement; 

23 ‘‘(B) the foreign government may not tar24 get a non-United States person located outside 

25 the United States if the purpose is to obtain inVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:52 Feb 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4943.IH H4943

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1 formation concerning a United States person or 

2 a person located in the United States; 

3 ‘‘(C) the foreign government may not issue 

4 an order at the request of or to obtain informa5 tion to provide to the United States Govern6 ment or a third-party government, nor shall the 

7 foreign government be required to share any in8 formation produced with the United States 

9 Government or a third-party government; 

10 ‘‘(D) an order issued by the foreign gov11 ernment— 

12 ‘‘(i) shall be for the purpose of obtain13 ing information relating to the prevention, 

14 detection, investigation, or prosecution of 

15 serious crime, including terrorism; 

16 ‘‘(ii) shall identify a specific person, 

17 account, address, or personal device, or 

18 any other specific identifier as the object of 

19 the order; 

20 ‘‘(iii) shall be in compliance with the 

21 domestic law of that country, and any obli22 gation for a provider of an electronic com23 munications service or a remote computing 

24 service to produce data shall derive solely 

25 from that law; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) shall be based on requirements 

2 for a reasonable justification based on 

3 articulable and credible facts, particularity, 

4 legality, and severity regarding the conduct 

5 under investigation; 

6 ‘‘(v) shall be subject to review or over7 sight by a court, judge, magistrate, or 

8 other independent authority; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) in the case of an order for the 

10 interception of wire or electronic commu11 nications, and any extensions thereof, shall 

12 require that the interception order— 

13 ‘‘(I) be for a fixed, limited dura14 tion; 

15 ‘‘(II) may not last longer than is 

16 reasonably necessary to accomplish 

17 the approved purposes of the order; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(III) be issued only if the same 

20 information could not reasonably be 

21 obtained by another less intrusive 

22 method; 

23 ‘‘(E) an order issued by the foreign gov24 ernment may not be used to infringe freedom of 

25 speech; 


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1 ‘‘(F) the foreign government shall prompt2 ly review material collected pursuant to the 

3 agreement and store any unreviewed commu4 nications on a secure system accessible only to 

5 those persons trained in applicable procedures; 

6 ‘‘(G) the foreign government shall, using 

7 procedures that, to the maximum extent pos8 sible, meet the definition of minimization proce9 dures in section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence 

10 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801), seg11 regate, seal, or delete, and not disseminate ma12 terial found not to be information that is, or is 

13 necessary to understand or assess the impor14 tance of information that is, relevant to the pre15 vention, detection, investigation, or prosecution 

16 of serious crime, including terrorism, or nec17 essary to protect against a threat of death or 

18 serious bodily harm to any person; 

19 ‘‘(H) the foreign government may not dis20 seminate the content of a communication of a 

21 United States person to United States authori22 ties unless the communication may be dissemi23 nated pursuant to subparagraph (G) and re24 lates to significant harm, or the threat thereof, 

25 to the United States or United States persons, 


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1 including crimes involving national security 

2 such as terrorism, significant violent crime, 

3 child exploitation, transnational organized 

4 crime, or significant financial fraud; 

5 ‘‘(I) the foreign government shall afford 

6 reciprocal rights of data access, to include, 

7 where applicable, removing restrictions on com8 munications service providers, including pro9 viders subject to United States jurisdiction, and 

10 thereby allow them to respond to valid legal 

11 process sought by a governmental entity (as de12 fined in section 2711) if foreign law would oth13 erwise prohibit communications-service pro14 viders from disclosing the data; 

15 ‘‘(J) the foreign government shall agree to 

16 periodic review of compliance by the foreign 

17 government with the terms of the agreement to 

18 be conducted by the United States Government; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(K) the United States Government shall 

21 reserve the right to render the agreement inap22 plicable as to any order for which the United 

23 States Government concludes the agreement 

24 may not properly be invoked. 


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1 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A deter2 mination or certification made by the Attorney General 

3 under subsection (b) shall not be subject to judicial or ad4 ministrative review. 

5 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE OF CERTIFICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Not later than 7 days after the 

7 date on which the Attorney General certifies an ex8 ecutive agreement under subsection (b), the Attorney 

9 General shall provide notice of the determination 

10 under subsection (b) and a copy of the executive 

11 agreement to Congress, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

13 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen14 ate; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the Committee on the Judiciary and 

16 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

17 of Representatives. 

18 ‘‘(2) ENTRY INTO FORCE.—An executive agree19 ment that is determined and certified by the Attor20 ney General to satisfy the requirements of this sec21 tion shall enter into force not earlier than the date 

22 that is 90 days after the date on which notice is pro23 vided under paragraph (1), unless Congress enacts 

24 a joint resolution of disapproval in accordance with 

25 paragraph (4). 


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1 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION BY COMMITTEES.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—During the 60-day pe3 riod beginning on the date on which notice is 

4 provided under paragraph (1), each congres5 sional committee described in paragraph (1) 

6 may— 

7 ‘‘(i) hold one or more hearings on the 

8 executive agreement; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) submit to their respective House 

10 of Congress a report recommending wheth11 er the executive agreement should be ap12 proved or disapproved. 

13 ‘‘(B) REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION.— 

14 Upon request by the Chairman or Ranking 

15 Member of a congressional committee described 

16 in paragraph (1), the head of an agency shall 

17 promptly furnish a summary of factors consid18 ered in determining that the foreign govern19 ment satisfies the requirements of this section. 

20 ‘‘(4) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.— 

21 ‘‘(A) JOINT RESOLUTION DEFINED.—In 

22 this paragraph, the term ‘joint resolution’ 

23 means only a joint resolution— 

24 ‘‘(i) introduced during the 90-day pe25 riod described in paragraph (2); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) which does not have a preamble; 

2 ‘‘(iii) the title of which is as follows: 

3 ‘Joint resolution disapproving the executive 

4 agreement signed by the United States and 

5 ll.’, the blank space being appropriately 

6 filled in; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) the matter after the resolving 

8 clause of which is as follows: ‘That Con9 gress disapproves the executive agreement 

10 governing access by lll to certain elec11 tronic data as submitted by the Attorney 

12 General on lll’, the blank spaces being 

13 appropriately filled in. 

14 ‘‘(B) JOINT RESOLUTION ENACTED.—Not15 withstanding any other provision of this section, 

16 if not later than 90 days after the date on 

17 which notice is provided to Congress under 

18 paragraph (1), there is enacted into law a joint 

19 resolution disapproving of an executive agree20 ment under this section, the executive agree21 ment shall not enter into force. 

22 ‘‘(C) INTRODUCTION.—During the 90-day 

23 period described in subparagraph (B), a joint 

24 resolution of disapproval may be introduced— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in the House of Representatives, 

2 by the majority leader or the minority 

3 leader; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) in the Senate, by the majority 

5 leader (or the majority leader’s designee) 

6 or the minority leader (or the minority 

7 leader’s designee). 

8 ‘‘(5) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF

9 REPRESENTATIVES.—If a committee of the House of 

10 Representatives to which a joint resolution of dis11 approval has been referred has not reported the joint 

12 resolution within 60 days after the date of referral, 

13 that committee shall be discharged from further con14 sideration of the joint resolution. 

15 ‘‘(6) CONSIDERATION IN THE SENATE.— 

16 ‘‘(A) COMMITTEE REFERRAL.—A joint res17 olution of disapproval introduced in the Senate 

18 shall be— 

19 ‘‘(i) referred to the Committee on the 

20 Judiciary; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) referred to the Committee on 

22 Foreign Relations. 

23 ‘‘(B) REPORTING AND DISCHARGE.—If a 

24 committee to which a joint resolution of dis25 approval was referred has not reported the joint 


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1 resolution within 60 days after the date of re2 ferral of the joint resolution, that committee 

3 shall be discharged from further consideration 

4 of the joint resolution and the joint resolution 

5 shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. 

6 ‘‘(C) PROCEEDING TO CONSIDERATION.— 

7 Notwithstanding rule XXII of the Standing 

8 Rules of the Senate, it is in order at any time 

9 after either the Committee on the Judiciary or 

10 the Committee on Foreign Relations, as the 

11 case may be, reports a joint resolution of dis12 approval to the Senate or has been discharged 

13 from consideration of such a joint resolution 

14 (even though a previous motion to the same ef15 fect has been disagreed to) to move to proceed 

16 to the consideration of the joint resolution, and 

17 all points of order against the joint resolution 

18 (and against consideration of the joint resolu19 tion) are waived. The motion is not subject to 

20 a motion to postpone. A motion to reconsider 

21 the vote by which the motion is agreed to or 

22 disagreed to shall not be in order. 

23 ‘‘(D) RULINGS OF THE CHAIR ON PROCE24 DURE.—Appeals from the decisions of the Chair 

25 relating to the application of the rules of the 


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1 Senate, as the case may be, to the procedure re2 lating to a joint resolution of disapproval shall 

3 be decided without debate. 

4 ‘‘(E) CONSIDERATION OF VETO MES5 SAGES.—Debate in the Senate of any veto mes6 sage with respect to a joint resolution of dis7 approval, including all debatable motions and 

8 appeals in connection with the joint resolution, 

9 shall be limited to 10 hours, to be equally di10 vided between, and controlled by, the majority 

11 leader and the minority leader or their des12 ignees. 

13 ‘‘(7) RULES RELATING TO SENATE AND HOUSE

14 OF REPRESENTATIVES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) TREATMENT OF SENATE JOINT RESO16 LUTION IN HOUSE.—In the House of Rep17 resentatives, the following procedures shall 

18 apply to a joint resolution of disapproval re19 ceived from the Senate (unless the House has 

20 already passed a joint resolution relating to the 

21 same proposed action): 

22 ‘‘(i) The joint resolution shall be re23 ferred to the appropriate committees. 

24 ‘‘(ii) If a committee to which a joint 

25 resolution has been referred has not reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Feb 08, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4943.IH H4943

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1 ported the joint resolution within 7 days 

2 after the date of referral, that committee 

3 shall be discharged from further consider4 ation of the joint resolution. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Beginning on the third legisla6 tive day after each committee to which a 

7 joint resolution has been referred reports 

8 the joint resolution to the House or has 

9 been discharged from further consideration 

10 thereof, it shall be in order to move to pro11 ceed to consider the joint resolution in the 

12 House. All points of order against the mo13 tion are waived. Such a motion shall not be 

14 in order after the House has disposed of a 

15 motion to proceed on the joint resolution. 

16 The previous question shall be considered 

17 as ordered on the motion to its adoption 

18 without intervening motion. The motion 

19 shall not be debatable. A motion to recon20 sider the vote by which the motion is dis21 posed of shall not be in order. 

22 ‘‘(iv) The joint resolution shall be con23 sidered as read. All points of order against 

24 the joint resolution and against its consid25 eration are waived. The previous question 


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1 shall be considered as ordered on the joint 

2 resolution to final passage without inter3 vening motion except 2 hours of debate 

4 equally divided and controlled by the spon5 sor of the joint resolution (or a designee) 

6 and an opponent. A motion to reconsider 

7 the vote on passage of the joint resolution 

8 shall not be in order. 

9 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF HOUSE JOINT RESO10 LUTION IN SENATE.— 

11 ‘‘(i) If, before the passage by the Sen12 ate of a joint resolution of disapproval, the 

13 Senate receives an identical joint resolution 

14 from the House of Representatives, the fol15 lowing procedures shall apply: 

16 ‘‘(I) That joint resolution shall 

17 not be referred to a committee. 

18 ‘‘(II) With respect to that joint 

19 resolution— 

20 ‘‘(aa) the procedure in the 

21 Senate shall be the same as if no 

22 joint resolution had been received 

23 from the House of Representa24 tives; but 


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1 ‘‘(bb) the vote on passage 

2 shall be on the joint resolution 

3 from the House of Representa4 tives. 

5 ‘‘(ii) If, following passage of a joint 

6 resolution of disapproval in the Senate, the 

7 Senate receives an identical joint resolution 

8 from the House of Representatives, that 

9 joint resolution shall be placed on the ap10 propriate Senate calendar. 

11 ‘‘(iii) If a joint resolution of dis12 approval is received from the House, and 

13 no companion joint resolution has been in14 troduced in the Senate, the Senate proce15 dures under this subsection shall apply to 

16 the House joint resolution. 

17 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION TO REVENUE MEAS18 URES.—The provisions of this paragraph shall 

19 not apply in the House of Representatives to a 

20 joint resolution of disapproval that is a revenue 

21 measure. 

22 ‘‘(8) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

23 AND SENATE.—This subsection is enacted by Con24 gress— 


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1 ‘‘(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking 

2 power of the Senate and the House of Rep3 resentatives, respectively, and as such is deemed 

4 a part of the rules of each House, respectively, 

5 and supersedes other rules only to the extent 

6 that it is inconsistent with such rules; and 

7 ‘‘(B) with full recognition of the constitu8 tional right of either House to change the rules 

9 (so far as relating to the procedure of that 

10 House) at any time, in the same manner, and 

11 to the same extent as in the case of any other 

12 rule of that House. 

13 ‘‘(e) RENEWAL OF DETERMINATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, with 

15 the concurrence of the Secretary of State, shall 

16 renew a determination under subsection (b) every 5 

17 years. 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Upon renewing a determination 

19 under subsection (b), the Attorney General shall file 

20 a report with the Committee on the Judiciary and 

21 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

22 and the Committee on the Judiciary and the Com23 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep24 resentatives describing— 

25 ‘‘(A) the reasons for the renewal; 


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1 ‘‘(B) any substantive changes to the agree2 ment or to the relevant laws or procedures of 

3 the foreign government since the original deter4 mination or, in the case of a second or subse5 quent renewal, since the last renewal; and 

6 ‘‘(C) how the agreement has been imple7 mented and what problems or controversies, if 

8 any, have arisen as a result of the agreement 

9 or its implementation. 

10 ‘‘(3) NONRENEWAL.—If a determination is not 

11 renewed under paragraph (1), the agreement shall 

12 no longer be considered to satisfy the requirements 

13 of this section. 

14 ‘‘(f) PUBLICATION.—Any determination or certifi15 cation under subsection (b) regarding an executive agree16 ment under this section, including any termination or re17 newal of such an agreement, shall be published in the Fed18 eral Register as soon as is reasonably practicable. 

19 ‘‘(g) MINIMIZATION PROCEDURES.—A United States 

20 authority that receives the content of a communication de21 scribed in subsection (b)(3)(H) from a foreign government 

22 in accordance with an executive agreement under this sec23 tion shall use procedures that, to the maximum extent pos24 sible, meet the definition of minimization procedures in 

25 section 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 


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1 of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801) to appropriately protect non2 publicly available information concerning United States 

3 persons.’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 

5 sections for chapter 119 of title 18, United States Code, 

6 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

7 2522 the following: 

‘‘2523. Executive agreements on access to data by foreign governments.’’. 

8 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

9 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 

10 Act, shall be construed to preclude any foreign authority 

11 from obtaining assistance in a criminal investigation or 

12 prosecution pursuant to section 3512 of title 18, United 

13 States Code, section 1782 of title 28, United States Code, 

14 or as otherwise provided by law. 

Æ 


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