II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2439 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide for the Inspector 

General of the National Security Agency to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2014 

Mrs. MCCASKILL (for herself, Mr. COATS, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. TESTER, and 

Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence 

A BILL 

To amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide 

for the Inspector General of the National Security Agency to be appointed by the President, by and with the 

advice and consent of the Senate, 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 Internal Watch5 dog Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY 

2 AGENCY. 

3 (a) ELEVATION OF INSPECTOR GENERAL STATUS.— 

4 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in section 8G(a)(2), by striking ‘‘the Na7 tional Security Agency,’’; and 

8 (2) in section 12— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘the Di10 rector of the National Security Agency;’’ after 

11 ‘‘Export-Import Bank;’’; and 

12 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘the 

13 National Security Agency,’’ after ‘‘the National 

14 Aeronautics and Space Administration,’’. 

15 (b) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 90 

16 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi17 dent shall nominate a person for appointment, by and with 

18 the advice and consent of the Senate, as Inspector General 

19 of the National Security Agency under section 3(a) of the 

20 Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) consistent 

21 with the amendments made by subsection (a). 

22 (c) TRANSITION RULE.—An individual serving as In23 spector General of the National Security Agency on the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act pursuant to an appoint25 ment made under section 8G of the Inspector General Act 

26 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)— 


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1 (1) may continue so serving until the President 

2 makes an appointment under section 3(a) of such 

3 Act with respect to the National Security Agency 

4 consistent with the amendments made by subsection 

5 (a); and 

6 (2) shall, while serving under paragraph (1), re7 main subject to the provisions of section 8G of such 

8 Act that, immediately before the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, applied with respect to the Inspec10 tor General of the National Security Agency and 

11 suffer no reduction in pay. 

12 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REVIEW OF MECHANISMS FOR REPORTING 

13 EMPLOYEE OR CONTRACTOR COMPLAINTS. 

14 Section 8H(g)(1) of the Inspector General Act of 

15 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(E) In the case of the Inspector General 

18 of the National Security Agency, a review of the 

19 mechanisms for submitting complaints that are 

20 available to an employee of or contractor to the 

21 National Security Agency and any recommenda22 tions of the Inspector General for improving 

23 such mechanisms.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE NATIONAL 

2 SECURITY AGENCY. 

3 The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) 

4 is amended by inserting after section 8J the following new 

5 section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 8K. SPECIAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE NA7 TIONAL SECURITY AGENCY. 

8 ‘‘(a) GENERAL COUNSEL TO THE INSPECTOR GEN9 ERAL.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is a General Counsel 

11 to the Inspector General of the National Security 

12 Agency, who shall be appointed by the Inspector 

13 General of the National Security Agency. 

14 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The General Counsel to the In15 spector General of the National Security Agency 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) serve as the chief legal officer of the 

18 Office of the Inspector General of the National 

19 Security Agency; 

20 ‘‘(B) provide legal services only to the In21 spector General of the National Security Agen22 cy; 

23 ‘‘(C) perform such functions as the Inspec24 tor General may prescribe; and 

25 ‘‘(D) serve at the discretion of the Inspec26 tor General. 


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1 ‘‘(3) OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL.— 

2 There is an Office of the General Counsel to the In3 spector General of the National Security Agency. 

4 The Inspector General may appoint to the Office to 

5 serve as staff of the General Counsel such legal 

6 counsel as the Inspector General considers appro7 priate. 

8 ‘‘(b) TESTIMONY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO COMPEL.—The Inspector 

10 General of the National Security Agency is author11 ized to require by subpoena the attendance and tes12 timony of former employees of the National Security 

13 Agency or contractors, former contractors, or former 

14 detailees to the National Security Agency as nec15 essary in the performance of functions assigned to 

16 the Inspector General by this Act. 

17 ‘‘(2) REFUSAL TO OBEY.—A subpoena issued 

18 under this subsection, in the case of contumacy or 

19 refusal to obey, shall be enforceable by order of any 

20 appropriate United States district court. 

21 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—The Inspector General 

22 shall notify the Attorney General 7 days before 

23 issuing any subpoena under this section. 

24 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITIONS ON INVESTIGATIONS FOR NA25 TIONAL SECURITY REASONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) EVALUATIONS OF PROHIBITIONS.—Not 

2 later than 7 days after the date on which the Inspec3 tor General of the National Security Agency receives 

4 notice or a statement under section 8G(d)(2)(C) of 

5 the reasons the Secretary of Defense is prohibiting 

6 the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, 

7 or completing any audit or investigation, the Inspec8 tor General shall submit to the Permanent Select 

9 Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on 

10 Armed Services of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Com12 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate an evalua13 tion of such notice or such statement. 

14 ‘‘(2) INCLUSION IN SEMI-ANNUAL REPORT.— 

15 The Inspector General shall include in the semi16 annual report prepared by the Inspector General in 

17 accordance with section 5(a) a description of the in18 stances in which the Secretary of Defense prohibited 

19 the Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, 

20 or completing any audit or investigation during the 

21 period covered by such report. 

22 ‘‘(d) STANDARD FOR AUDITS AND INVESTIGA23 TIONS.—In carrying out any audit or investigation of a 

24 surveillance or data collection program, the Inspector Gen25 eral shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) assess the impact of such program on civil 

2 rights and civil liberties; 

3 ‘‘(2) assess the effectiveness and use, including 

4 any improper or illegal use, of such program; and 

5 ‘‘(3) make any recommendations the Inspector 

6 General considers appropriate to improve the protec7 tion of civil rights and civil liberties in the operation 

8 of such program. 

9 ‘‘(e) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.—Each report to Congress 

11 or a committee of Congress by the Inspector General 

12 shall be made available to all Members of Congress. 

13 ‘‘(2) MEMBER OF CONGRESS DEFINED.—In this 

14 subsection, the term ‘Member of Congress’ means a 

15 Senator, a Member of the House of Representatives, 

16 or a Delegate or Resident Commissioner to the Con17 gress.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. AUDIT OF SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS AND BACK19 GROUND INVESTIGATIONS. 

20 (a) AUDIT.—The Inspector General of the National 

21 Security Agency appointed under section 3(a) of the In22 spector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) consistent 

23 with the amendments made by section 2(a) of this Act 

24 shall perform a comprehensive audit of— 


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1 (1) the effectiveness and use, including im2 proper or illegal use, of surveillance and data collec3 tion programs of the National Security Agency, in4 cluding programs conducted pursuant to sections 

5 501 and 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 

6 Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861 and 1881a); 

7 (2) the interactions between the National Secu8 rity Agency and the court established under section 

9 103(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 

10 of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)), including the accuracy 

11 of the information provided to such court by the 

12 Agency and the compliance of the Agency with or13 ders of such court; and 

14 (3) the process for conducting background in15 vestigations of persons for purposes of employment 

16 or potential employment by the National Security 

17 Agency or for receiving access to classified informa18 tion. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

20 on which the Inspector General of the National Security 

21 Agency is appointed under section 3(a) of the Inspector 

22 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) consistent with the 

23 amendments made by section 2(a) of this Act, the Inspec24 tor General of the National Security Agency shall submit 

25 to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 


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1 House of Representatives and the Select Committee on In2 telligence of the Senate a report containing the results of 

3 the audit conducted under subsection (a). 

4 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall be construed to alter the responsibility of the 

6 Inspector General of the National Security Agency to con7 duct audits or investigations of the surveillance programs 

8 of the National Security Agency and the background in9 vestigation process for employment or access to classified 

10 information on an ongoing basis in accordance with the 

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

Æ 


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