I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 68

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide for disclosures by

consumer reporting agencies to the Federal Bureau of Investigation

for counterintelligence purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. BEREUTER (for himself and Mr. COMBEST) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to provide for

disclosures by consumer reporting agencies to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for counterintelligence 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 ‘‘FBI Counterintel5 ligence Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION AND CONSUMER RE2 PORTS TO FBI FOR COUNTERINTELLIGENCE

3 PURPOSES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act

5 (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by adding after sec6 tion 623 the following new section:

7 ‘‘§ 624. Disclosures to FBI for counterintelligence

8 purposes

9 ‘‘(a) IDENTITY OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.—Not10 withstanding section 604 or any other provision of this

11 title, a consumer reporting agency shall furnish to the

12 Federal Bureau of Investigation the names and addresses

13 of all financial institutions (as that term is defined in sec14 tion 1101 of the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978)

15 at which a consumer maintains or has maintained an ac16 count, to the extent that information is in the files of the

17 agency, when presented with a written request for that

18 information, signed by the Director of the Federal Bureau

19 of Investigation, or the Director’s designee, which certifies

20 compliance with this section. The Director or the Direc21 tor’s designee may make such a certification only if the

22 Director or the Director’s designee has determined in writ23 ing that—

24 ‘‘(1) such information is necessary for the con25 duct of an authorized foreign counterintelligence in26 vestigation; and
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1 ‘‘(2) there are specific and articulable facts giv2 ing reason to believe that the consumer—

3 ‘‘(A) is a foreign power (as defined in sec4 tion 101 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil5 lance Act of 1978) or a person who is not a

6 United States person (as defined in such sec7 tion 101) and is an official of a foreign power;

8 or

9 ‘‘(B) is an agent of a foreign power and is

10 engaging or has engaged in international terror11 ism (as that term is defined in section 101(c)

12 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of

13 1978) or clandestine intelligence activities that

14 involve or may involve a violation of criminal

15 statutes of the United States.

16 ‘‘(b) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION.—Notwithstanding

17 the provisions of section 604 or any other provision of this

18 title, a consumer reporting agency shall furnish identifying

19 information respecting a consumer, limited to name, ad20 dress, former addresses, places of employment, or former

21 places of employment, to the Federal Bureau of Investiga22 tion when presented with a written request, signed by the

23 Director or the Director’s designee, which certifies compli24 ance with this subsection. The Director or the Director’s

25 designee may make such a certification only if the Director
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1 or the Director’s designee has determined in writing

2 that—

3 ‘‘(1) such information is necessary to the con4 duct of an authorized counterintelligence investiga5 tion; and

6 ‘‘(2) there is information giving reason to be7 lieve that the consumer has been, or is about to be,

8 in contact with a foreign power or an agent of a for9 eign power (as defined in section 101 of the Foreign

10 Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978).

11 ‘‘(c) COURT ORDER FOR DISCLOSURE OF CONSUMER

12 REPORTS.—Notwithstanding section 604 or any other

13 provision of this title, if requested in writing by the Direc14 tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or a designee

15 of the Director, a court may issue an order ex parte direct16 ing a consumer reporting agency to furnish a consumer

17 report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, upon a

18 showing in camera that—

19 ‘‘(1) the consumer report is necessary for the

20 conduct of an authorized foreign counterintelligence

21 investigation; and

22 ‘‘(2) there are specific and articulable facts giv23 ing reason to believe that the consumer whose

24 consumer report is sought—

25 ‘‘(A) is an agent of a foreign power; and
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1 ‘‘(B) is engaging or has engaged in inter2 national terrorism (as that term is defined in

3 section 101(c) of the Foreign Intelligence Sur4 veillance Act of 1978) or clandestine intel5 ligence activities that involve or may involve a

6 violation of criminal statutes of the United

7 States.

8 The terms of an order issued under this subsection shall

9 not disclose that the order is issued for purposes of a

10 counterintelligence investigation.

11 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY.—No consumer reporting

12 agency or officer, employee, or agent of a consumer report13 ing agency shall disclose to any person, other than those

14 officers, employees, or agents of a consumer reporting

15 agency necessary to fulfill the requirement to disclose in16 formation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation under

17 this section, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has

18 sought or obtained the identity of financial institutions or

19 a consumer report respecting any consumer under sub20 section (a), (b), or (c) and no consumer reporting agency

21 or officer, employee, or agent of a consumer reporting

22 agency shall include in any consumer report any informa23 tion that would indicate that the Federal Bureau of Inves24 tigation has sought or obtained such information or a

25 consumer report.
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1 ‘‘(e) PAYMENT OF FEES.—The Federal Bureau of

2 Investigation shall, subject to the availability of appropria3 tions, pay to the consumer reporting agency assembling

4 or providing reports or information in accordance with

5 procedures established under this section, a fee for reim6 bursement for such costs as are reasonably necessary and

7 which have been directly incurred in searching, reproduc8 ing, or transporting books, papers, records, or other data

9 required or requested to be produced under this section.

10 ‘‘(f) LIMIT ON DISSEMINATION.—The Federal Bu11 reau of Investigation may not disseminate information ob12 tained pursuant to this section outside of the Federal Bu13 reau of Investigation, except to the Department of Justice

14 as may be necessary for the approval or conduct of a for15 eign counterintelligence investigation, or, where the infor16 mation concerns a person subject to the Uniform Code of

17 Military Justice, to appropriate investigative authorities

18 within the military department concerned as may be nec19 essary for the conduct of a joint foreign counterintel20 ligence investigation.

21 ‘‘(g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this

22 section shall be construed to prohibit information from

23 being furnished by the Federal Bureau of Investigation

24 pursuant to a subpoena or court order, or in connection

25 with a judicial or administrative proceeding to enforce the
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1 provisions of this Act. Nothing in this section shall be con2 strued to authorize or permit the withholding or informa3 tion from the Congress.

4 ‘‘(h) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—On a semiannual

5 basis, the Attorney General of the United States shall fully

6 inform the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

7 and the Committee on Banking and Financial Services of

8 the House of Representatives, and the Select Committee

9 on Intelligence and the Committee on Banking, Housing,

10 and Urban Affairs of the Senate concerning all requests

11 made pursuant to subsections (a), (b), and (c).

12 ‘‘(i) DAMAGES.—Any agency or department of the

13 United States obtaining or disclosing any consumer re14 ports, records, or information contained therein in viola15 tion of this section is liable to the consumer to whom such

16 consumer reports, records, or information relate in an

17 amount equal to the sum of—

18 ‘‘(1) $100, without regard to the volume of

19 consumer reports, records, or information involved;

20 ‘‘(2) any actual damages sustained by the

21 consumer as a result of the disclosure;

22 ‘‘(3) if the violation is found to have been will23 ful or intentional, such punitive damages as a court

24 may allow; and
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1 ‘‘(4) in the case of any successful action to en2 force liability under this subsection, the costs of the

3 action, together with reasonable attorney fees, as de4 termined by the court.

5 ‘‘(j) DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS.—If a

6 court determines that any agency or department of the

7 United States has violated any provision of this section

8 and the court finds that the circumstances surrounding

9 the violation raise questions of whether or not an officer

10 or employee of the agency or department acted willfully

11 or intentionally with respect to the violation, the agency

12 or department shall promptly initiate a proceeding to de13 termine whether or not disciplinary action is warranted

14 against the officer or employee who was responsible for

15 the violation.

16 ‘‘(k) GOOD-FAITH EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding

17 any other provision of this title, any consumer reporting

18 agency or agent or employee thereof making disclosure of

19 consumer reports or identifying information pursuant to

20 this subsection in good-faith reliance upon a certification

21 of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to provi22 sions of this section shall not be liable to any person for

23 such disclosure under this title, the constitution of any

24 State, or any law or regulation of any State or any politi25 cal subdivision of any State.
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1 ‘‘(l) LIMITATION OF REMEDIES.—Notwithstanding

2 any other provision of this title, the remedies and sanc3 tions set forth in this section shall be the only judicial

4 remedies and sanctions for violation of this section.

5 ‘‘(m) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.—In addition to any other

6 remedy contained in this section, injunctive relief shall be

7 available to require compliance with the procedures of this

8 section. In the event of any successful action under this

9 subsection, costs together with reasonable attorney fees,

10 as determined by the court, may be recovered.’’.

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

12 at the beginning of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15

13 U.S.C. 1681a et seq.) is amended by adding after the item

14 relating to section 623 the following:

‘‘624. Disclosures to FBI for counterintelligence purposes.’’.

15 (c) REPEAL OF PROVISIONS.—

16 (1) REPEAL.—The following provisions of the

17 Fair Credit Reporting Act, as added by this section,

18 are repealed:

19 (A) Section 624.

20 (B) In the table of contents at the begin21 ning of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the item

22 relating to section 624.

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (1) shall

24 take effect on the date that is 5 years after the date

25 of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF SECTION 2 AND

2 REPEAL OF ANY AMENDMENT MADE.

3 Section 2 shall not have any legal effect after the date

4 of the enactment of the Consumer Reporting Reform Act

5 of 1994. Any provisions the Fair Credit Reporting Act

6 that were added to that Act by the amendments made by

7 section 3 of this Act are repealed effective on the date

8 of the enactment of the Consumer Reporting Reform Act

9 of 1994.

10 Section 3 is only necessary to deal with any concur11 rent enactment of similar provision in another bill, as was

12 potentially the case in the 103d Congress with the com13 prehensive amendments that would have been made to

14 FCRA by the Consumer Report Reform Act of 1994.

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