I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4976 

To reiterate that chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, United States Code, 

and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 are the exclusive 

means by which domestic electronic surveillance may be conducted, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2006 

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

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

Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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 reiterate that chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, United 

States Code, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 

Act of 1978 are the exclusive means by which domestic 

electronic surveillance may be conducted, 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 ‘‘NSA Oversight Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous 

4 violence were committed against the United States 

5 and its citizens. 

6 (2) Such acts render it both necessary and ap7 propriate that the United States exercise its right to 

8 self-defense by protecting United States citizens 

9 both at home and abroad. 

10 (3) The Federal Government has a duty to pur11 sue al Qaeda and other enemies of the United States 

12 with all available tools, including the use of elec13 tronic surveillance, to thwart future attacks on the 

14 United States and to destroy the enemy. 

15 (4) The President of the United States pos16 sesses the inherent authority to engage in electronic 

17 surveillance of the enemy outside of the United 

18 States consistent with his authority as Commander19 in-Chief under Article II of the Constitution. 

20 (5) Congress possesses the authority to regulate 

21 electronic surveillance within the United States. 

22 (6) The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution 

23 guarantees to the American people the right ‘‘to be 

24 secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, 

25 against unreasonable searches and seizures’’ and 

26 provides that courts shall issue ‘‘warrants’’ to auVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:38 Mar 18, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4976.IH H4976

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1 thorize searches and seizures, based upon probable 

2 cause. 

3 (7) The Supreme Court has consistently held 

4 for nearly 40 years that the monitoring and record5 ing of private conversations constitutes a ‘‘search 

6 and seizure’’ within the meaning of the Fourth 

7 Amendment. 

8 (8) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

9 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and chapters 119 and 

10 121 of title 18, United States Code, were enacted to 

11 provide the legal authority for the Federal Govern12 ment to engage in searches of Americans in connec13 tion with criminal investigations, intelligence gath14 ering, and counterintelligence. 

15 (9) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

16 1978 and specified provisions of the Federal crimi17 nal code, were expressly enacted as the ‘‘exclusive 

18 means by which electronic surveillance . . . may be 

19 conducted’’ domestically pursuant to law (18 U.S.C. 

20 2511(2)(f)). 

21 (10) Warrantless electronic surveillance of 

22 Americans inside the United States conducted with23 out congressional authorization may have a serious 

24 impact on the civil liberties of citizens of the United 

25 States. 


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1 (11) United States citizens, such as journalists, 

2 academics, and researchers studying global ter3 rorism, who have made international phone calls 

4 subsequent to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 

5 2001, and are law-abiding citizens, may have the 

6 reasonable fear of being the subject of such surveil7 lance. 

8 (12) Since the nature and criteria of the Na9 tional Security Agency (NSA) program is highly 

10 classified and unknown to the public, many other 

11 Americans who make frequent international calls, 

12 such as Americans engaged in international busi13 ness, Americans with family overseas, and others, 

14 have a legitimate concern they may be the inad15 vertent targets of eavesdropping. 

16 (13) The President has sought and signed legis17 lation including the Uniting and Strengthening 

18 America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to 

19 Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT 

20 ACT) Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–56), and the In21 telligence Reform and Terrorism Protection Act of 

22 2004 (Public Law 108–458), that have expanded 

23 authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveil24 lance Act of 1978. 


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1 (14) It may be necessary and desirable to 

2 amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

3 1978 to address new challenges in the Global War 

4 on Terrorism. The President should submit a re5 quest for legislation to Congress to amend the For6 eign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 if the 

7 President desires that the electronic surveillance au8 thority provided by such Act be further modified. 

9 (15) The Authorization for Use of Military 

10 Force (Public Law 107–40), passed by Congress on 

11 September 14, 2001, authorized military action 

12 against those responsible for the attacks on Sep13 tember 11, 2001, but did not contain legal author14 ization nor approve of domestic electronic surveil15 lance not authorized by chapters 119 or 121 of title 

16 18, United States Code, or the Foreign Intelligence 

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

18 SEC. 3. REITERATION OF CHAPTERS 119 AND 121 OF TITLE 

19 18, UNITED STATES CODE, AND THE FOREIGN 

20 INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978 

21 AS THE EXCLUSIVE MEANS BY WHICH DO22 MESTIC ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE MAY BE 

23 CONDUCTED. 

24 (a) EXCLUSIVE MEANS.—Notwithstanding any other 

25 provision of law, chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, United 


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1 States Code, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 

2 of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) shall be the exclusive 

3 means by which electronic surveillance may be conducted. 

4 (b) FUTURE CONGRESSIONAL ACTION.—Subsection 

5 (a) shall apply until specific statutory authorization for 

6 electronic surveillance, other than as an amendment to 

7 chapters 119 or 121 of title 18, United States Code, or 

8 the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

9 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), is enacted. Such specific statutory 

10 authorization shall be the only exception to subsection (a). 

11 SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. 

12 Not later than 14 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act, the President shall submit to the Perma14 nent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee 

15 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 

16 Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on 

17 the Judiciary of the Senate a report in classified form 

18 identifying the United States persons who have been the 

19 subject of electronic surveillance not authorized to be con20 ducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

21 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or chapters 119 or 121 

22 of title 18, United States Code, and the basis for the selec23 tion of such persons for such electronic surveillance. 


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1 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘electronic surveillance’’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 101(f) of the Foreign 

4 Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801(f)). 

Æ 


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