I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8970 

To repeal the USA PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 15, 2020 

Ms. GABBARD (for herself and Mr. MASSIE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select), Financial Services, 

Foreign Affairs, Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed Services, 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 repeal the USA PATRIOT Act and the FISA 

Amendments Act of 2008, 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 ‘‘Protect Our Civil Lib5 erties Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF USA PATRIOT ACT AND DESTRUCTION 

2 OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. 

3 (a) REPEAL.—The USA PATRIOT Act (Public Law 

4 107–56) is repealed, and the provisions of law amended 

5 or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such 

6 Act had not been enacted. 

7 (b) DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—The 

8 Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General 

9 shall destroy any information collected under the USA 

10 PATRIOT Act (Public Law 107–56) and the amendments 

11 made by such Act, as in effect the day before the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act, concerning a United States 

13 person that is not related to an investigation that is ac14 tively ongoing on such date. 

15 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF THE FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008 

16 AND DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN INFORMA17 TION. 

18 (a) REPEAL.—The FISA Amendments Act of 2008 

19 (Public Law 110–261; 122 Stat. 2477) is repealed, and 

20 the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act 

21 are restored or revived as if such Act had not been en22 acted. 

23 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) of this Act shall not 

24 apply to sections 103 and 110 of the FISA Amendments 

25 Act of 2008 (Public Law 110–261; 122 Stat. 2477). 


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1 (c) DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—The 

2 Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General 

3 shall destroy any information collected under section 702 

4 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

5 U.S.C. 1881a), as in effect the day before the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act, concerning a United States person 

7 that is not related to an investigation that is actively ongo8 ing on such date. 

9 SEC. 4. INCREASE TERM LENGTH OF JUDGES ON FOREIGN 

10 INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT; RE11 APPOINTMENT; APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL 

12 MASTERS TO ADVISE COURTS. 

13 (a) TERMS; REAPPOINTMENT.—Section 103(d) of the 

14 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 

15 1803(d)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘maximum of seven’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘maximum of ten’’; and 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘and shall not be eligible for re19 designation’’. 

20 (b) SPECIAL MASTERS.—Section 103(f) of such Act, 

21 as amended by section 3 of this Act, is further amended 

22 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL MASTERS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) The courts established pursuant to 

25 subsections (a) and (b) may appoint one or 


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1 more Special Masters to advise the courts on 

2 technical issues raised during proceedings be3 fore the courts. 

4 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘Special 

5 Master’ means an individual who has techno6 logical expertise in the subject matter of a pro7 ceeding before a court established pursuant to 

8 subsection (a) or (b).’’. 

9 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE OF SPECIFIED PER10 SONS WITHOUT REGARD TO SPECIFIC DE11 VICE. 

12 Section 105(c)(2)(B) of the Foreign Intelligence Sur13 veillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805(c)(2)(B)) is amend14 ed to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(B) that, upon the request of the appli16 cant, any person or entity shall furnish the ap17 plicant forthwith all information, facilities, or 

18 technical assistance necessary to accomplish the 

19 electronic surveillance in such a manner as will 

20 protect its secrecy and produce a minimum of 

21 interference with the services that such carrier, 

22 landlord, custodian, or other person is providing 

23 that target of electronic surveillance;’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR COLLECTIONS 

2 UNDER THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SUR3 VEILLANCE ACT OF 1978. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Foreign Intel5 ligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), 

6 as amended by section 3 of this Act, is further amended 

7 to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘TITLE VII—ADDITIONAL 

9 PROVISIONS 

10 ‘‘SEC. 701. WARRANT REQUIREMENT. 

11 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no 

12 information relating to a United States person may be ac13 quired pursuant to this Act without a valid warrant based 

14 on probable cause.’’. 

15 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENTS.—The table 

16 of contents in the first section of the Foreign Intelligence 

17 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), as 

18 amended by section 3 of this Act, is further amended by 

19 striking the items relating to title VII and section 701 and 

20 inserting the following new items: 

‘‘TITLE VII—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 

‘‘701. Warrant requirement.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. PROHIBIT GOVERNMENT MANDATED ‘‘BACKDOORS’’ 

2 INTO ENCRYPTION AND PRIVACY TECH3 NOLOGY OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES AND 

4 SOFTWARE. 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Fed6 eral Government shall not mandate that the manufacturer 

7 of an electronic device or software for an electronic device 

8 build into such device or software a mechanism that allows 

9 the Federal Government to bypass the encryption or pri10 vacy technology of such device or software. 

11 SEC. 8. MANDATE ANNUAL GAO COMPLIANCE EVALUA12 TIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

14 United States shall annually evaluate compliance by the 

15 Federal Government with the provisions of the Foreign In16 telligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et 

17 seq.). 

18 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall annu19 ally submit to Congress a report containing the results of 

20 the evaluation conducted under subsection (a). 

21 SEC. 9. PROHIBIT RETALIATION FOR WHISTLEBLOWER 

22 COMPLAINTS. 

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO REPORT COMPLAINTS OR

24 INFORMATION.—An employee of or contractor to an ele25 ment of the intelligence community that has knowledge of 

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1 telligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et 

2 seq.) may submit a covered complaint— 

3 (1) to the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States; 

5 (2) to the Permanent Select Committee on In6 telligence of the House of Representatives; 

7 (3) to the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

8 the Senate; or 

9 (4) in accordance with the process established 

10 under section 103H(k)(5) of the National Security 

11 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3033(k)(5)). 

12 (b) INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

13 The Comptroller General shall investigate a covered com14 plaint submitted pursuant to subsection (b)(1) and shall 

15 submit to Congress a report containing the results of the 

16 investigation. 

17 (c) COVERED COMPLAINT DEFINED.—In this sec18 tion, the term ‘‘covered complaint’’ means a complaint or 

19 information concerning programs and activities authorized 

20 by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

21 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) that an employee or contractor rea22 sonably believes is evidence of — 

23 (1) a violation of any law, rule, or regulation; 

24 or 


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1 (2) gross mismanagement, a gross waste of 

2 funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and 

3 specific danger to public health or safety. 

4 SEC. 10. PROHIBIT INTERFERENCE WITH REPORTING OF 

5 WASTE, FRAUD, ABUSE, OR CRIMINAL BEHAV6 IOR. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law, no officer or employee of an element of the 

9 intelligence community shall take any retaliatory action 

10 against an employee of or contractor to an element of the 

11 intelligence community who seeks to disclose or discloses 

12 covered information to— 

13 (1) the Comptroller General; 

14 (2) the Permanent Select Committee on Intel15 ligence of the House of Representatives; 

16 (3) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

17 Senate; or 

18 (4) the Office of the Inspector General of the 

19 Intelligence Community. 

20 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE SANCTIONS.—An officer or em21 ployee of an element of the intelligence community who 

22 violates subsection (a) shall be subject to administrative 

23 sanctions, up to and including termination. 

24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COVERED INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘cov2 ered information’’ means any information (including 

3 classified or sensitive information) that an employee 

4 or contractor reasonably believes is evidence of— 

5 (A) a violation of any law, rule, or regula6 tion; or 

7 (B) gross mismanagement, a gross waste 

8 of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial 

9 and specific danger to public health or safety. 

10 (2) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

11 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given the 

12 term in section 3 of the National Security Act of 

13 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

14 SEC. 11. PROHIBIT TARGETING UNITED STATES PERSONS 

15 UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 12333 WITHOUT A 

16 WARRANT. 

17 (a) PROHIBITION ON TARGETING OF UNITED

18 STATES PERSONS WITHOUT A WARRANT.—Notwith19 standing any other provision of law, no United States per20 son may be the target of an acquisition under Executive 

21 Order 12333 without a valid warrant based on probable 

22 cause. 

23 (b) AUDIT OF COMPLIANCE WITH PROHIBITION.— 

24 (1) AUDIT.—The Comptroller General of the 

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1 telligence collection under Executive Order 12333 to 

2 ensure compliance with the requirement under sub3 section (a). 

4 (2) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall 

5 annually submit to Congress a report containing the 

6 results of each audit conducted under paragraph (1). 

7 (c) DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—The 

8 Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General 

9 shall destroy any information collected under Executive 

10 Order 12333 without a valid warrant based on probable 

11 cause concerning a United States person that is not re12 lated to an investigation that is actively ongoing on the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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