I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 11 

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 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. INGLIS of South 

Carolina, Mr. INSLEE, and Mr. MACK) 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’’. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
2 

•HR 11 IH

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 23:25 Jan 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H11.IH H11

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
3 

•HR 11 IH

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. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
4 

•HR 11 IH

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. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
5 

•HR 11 IH

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 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
6 

•HR 11 IH

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 (a) REPORT.—As soon as practicable after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act, but not later than 14 days 

14 after such date, the President shall submit to the Perma15 nent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 

16 Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence 

17 of the Senate a report— 

18 (1) on the Terrorist Surveillance Program of 

19 the National Security Agency; 

20 (2) on any program which involves the elec21 tronic surveillance of United States persons in the 

22 United States, and which is conducted by any de23 partment, agency, or other element of the Federal 

24 Government, or by any entity at the direction of a 

25 department, agency, or other element of the Federal 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
7 

•HR 11 IH

1 Government, without fully complying with the proce2 dures set forth in the Foreign Intelligence Surveil3 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or chap4 ters 119 or 121 of title 18, United States Code; and 

5 (3) including a general description of each 

6 United States person who has been the subject of 

7 such electronic surveillance not authorized to be con8 ducted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 

9 Act of 1978 or chapters 119 or 121 of title 18, 

10 United States Code, and the basis for the selection 

11 of each person for such electronic surveillance. 

12 (b) FORM.—The report submitted under subsection 

13 (a) may be submitted in classified form. 

14 (c) ACCESS.—The Chair of the Permanent Select 

15 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives 

16 and the Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence of 

17 the Senate shall provide each member of the Committees 

18 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 

19 Senate, respectively, access to the report submitted under 

20 subsection (a). Such access shall be provided in accordance 

21 with security procedures required for the review of classi22 fied information. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
8 

•HR 11 IH

1 SEC. 5. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT 

2 MATTERS. 

3 (a) AUTHORITY FOR ADDITIONAL JUDGES.—The 

4 first sentence of section 103(a) of the Foreign Intelligence 

5 Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)) is amended 

6 by striking ‘‘judicial circuits’’ and inserting ‘‘judicial cir7 cuits, and any additional district court judges that the 

8 Chief Justice considers necessary for the prompt and time9 ly consideration of applications under section 104,’’. 

10 (b) CONSIDERATION OF EMERGENCY APPLICA11 TIONS.—Section 105(f) of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1805(f)) 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following new sen13 tence: ‘‘The judge receiving an application under this sub14 section shall review such application within 24 hours of 

15 the application being submitted.’’ 

16 SEC. 6. STREAMLINING FISA APPLICATION PROCESS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Foreign Intel18 ligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1804) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (a)— 

21 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘detailed 

22 description’’ and inserting ‘‘summary descrip23 tion’’; 

24 (B) in paragraph (7)— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
9 

•HR 11 IH

1 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

2 ‘‘techniques;’’ and inserting ‘‘techniques; 

3 and’’; 

4 (ii) by striking subparagraph (D); and 

5 (iii) by redesignating subparagraph 

6 (E) as subparagraph (D); and 

7 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘a state8 ment of the means’’ and inserting ‘‘a summary 

9 statement of the means’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (e)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘or the 

11 Director of National Intelligence’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

12 Director of National Intelligence, or the Director of 

13 the Central Intelligence Agency’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 105(a)(5) 

15 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1805(a)(5)) is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘104(a)(7)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘104(a)(7)(D)’’. 

17 SEC. 7. INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF TARGETS. 

18 Section 105(d) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil19 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805(d)), as redesignated 

20 by section 7(4), is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(4) An order issued under this section shall remain 

23 in force during the authorized period of surveillance not24 withstanding the absence of the target from the United 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
10 

•HR 11 IH

1 States, unless the Government files a motion to extinguish 

2 the order and the court grants the motion.’’. 

3 SEC. 8. EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR APPLICATIONS FOR 

4 ORDERS FOR EMERGENCY ELECTRONIC SUR5 VEILLANCE. 

6 Section 105(f) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveil7 lance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805(f)) is further amended 

8 by striking ‘‘72 hours’’ each place it appears and inserting 

9 ‘‘168 hours’’. 

10 SEC. 9. ENHANCEMENT OF ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE 

11 AUTHORITY IN WARTIME. 

12 Section 111 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 

13 Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1811) is amended by striking ‘‘the 

14 Congress’’ and inserting ‘‘the Congress or an authoriza15 tion for the use of military force described in section 

16 2(c)(2) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 

17 1541(c)(2)) if such authorization contains a specific au18 thorization for electronic surveillance under this section.’’. 

19 SEC. 10. ACQUISITION OF COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN 

20 PARTIES NOT IN THE UNITED STATES. 

21 The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 

22 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) is further amended— 

23 (1) by adding at the end of title I the following 

24 new section: 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
11 

•HR 11 IH

1 ‘‘ACQUISITION OF COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN PARTIES

2 NOT IN THE UNITED STATES

3 ‘‘SEC. 112. (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of this Act, a court order is not required 

5 for the acquisition of the contents of any communication 

6 between persons that are not located within the United 

7 States for the purpose of collecting foreign intelligence in8 formation, without respect to whether the communication 

9 passes through the United States or the surveillance de10 vice is located within the United States. 

11 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF INTERCEPTED COMMUNICA12 TIONS INVOLVING A DOMESTIC PARTY.—If an acquisition 

13 described in subsection (a) inadvertently collects a commu14 nication in which at least one party to the communication 

15 is within the United States— 

16 ‘‘(1) in the case of a communication acquired 

17 inside the United States, the contents of such com18 munication shall be handled in accordance with 

19 minimization procedures adopted by the Attorney 

20 General that require that no contents of any commu21 nication to which a United States person is a party 

22 shall be disclosed, disseminated, or used for any pur23 pose or retained for longer than 168 hours unless a 

24 court order under section 105 is obtained or unless 

25 the Attorney General determines that the informaVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:25 Jan 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H11.IH H11

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
12 

•HR 11 IH

1 tion indicates a threat of death or serious bodily 

2 harm to any person; and 

3 ‘‘(2) in the case of a communication acquired 

4 outside the United States, the contents of such com5 munication shall be handled in accordance with 

6 minimization procedures adopted by the Attorney 

7 General.’’; and 

8 (2) in the table of contents in the first section, 

9 by inserting after the item relating to section 111 

10 the following: 

‘‘112. Acquisition of communications between parties not in the United 

States.’’. 

11 SEC. 11. ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL FOR PREPARATION AND 

12 CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR OR13 DERS APPROVING ELECTRONIC SURVEIL14 LANCE. 

15 (a) OFFICE OF INTELLIGENCE POLICY AND RE16 VIEW.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

18 hire and assign personnel to the Office of Intel19 ligence Policy and Review as may be necessary to 

20 carry out the prompt and timely preparation, modi21 fication, and review of applications under section 

22 104 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 

23 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1804) for orders approving elecVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:25 Jan 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H11.IH H11

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
13 

•HR 11 IH

1 tronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes 

2 under section 105 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1805). 

3 (2) ASSIGNMENT.—The Attorney General shall 

4 assign personnel hired and assigned pursuant to 

5 paragraph (1) to and among appropriate offices of 

6 the National Security Agency in order that such per7 sonnel may directly assist personnel of the National 

8 Security Agency in preparing applications under sec9 tion 104 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 

10 of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1804). 

11 (b) NATIONAL SECURITY BRANCH OF THE FBI.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Federal 

13 Bureau of Investigation may hire and assign per14 sonnel to the National Security Branch as may be 

15 necessary to carry out the prompt and timely prepa16 ration of applications under section 104 of the For17 eign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

18 U.S.C. 1804) for orders approving electronic surveil19 lance for foreign intelligence purposes under section 

20 105 of such Act (50 U.S.C. 1805). 

21 (2) ASSIGNMENT.—The Director of the Federal 

22 Bureau of Investigation shall assign personnel hired 

23 and assigned pursuant to paragraph (1) to and 

24 among the field offices of the Federal Bureau of In25 vestigation in order that such personnel may directly 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
14 

•HR 11 IH

1 assist personnel of the Federal Bureau of Investiga2 tion in such field offices in preparing applications 

3 under section 104 of the Foreign Intelligence Sur4 veillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1804). 

5 (c) NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY.—The Director of 

6 the National Security Agency may hire and assign per7 sonnel as may be necessary to carry out the prompt and 

8 timely preparation of applications under section 104 of the 

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

10 1804) for orders approving electronic surveillance for for11 eign intelligence purposes under section 105 of such Act 

12 (50 U.S.C. 1805). 

13 (d) FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE

14 COURT.—The presiding judge designated under section 

15 103(b) of such Act may hire and assign personnel as may 

16 be necessary to carry out the prompt and timely consider17 ation of applications under section 104 of such Act (50 

18 U.S.C. 1804) for orders approving electronic surveillance 

19 for foreign intelligence purposes under section 105 of that 

20 Act (50 U.S.C. 1805). 

21 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) The term ‘‘electronic surveillance’’ has the 

24 meaning given the term in section 101(f) of the ForVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:25 Jan 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H11.IH H11

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
15 

•HR 11 IH

1 eign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 

2 U.S.C. 1801(f)). 

3 (2) The term ‘‘foreign intelligence information’’ 

4 has the meaning given the term in section 101(e) of 

5 such Act (50 U.S.C. 1801(e)). 

Æ 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS