FISA COURT Act

To amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to provide for the designation of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges by the President, majority of the Supreme Court, Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives, and majority leader and minority leader of the Senate, and to provide for the public disclosure of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court decisions. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the FISA Court Oversight Underscoring Responsibility and Transparency Act FISA COURT Act 2. Designation of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judges Section 103 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1803(a) (1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following new paragraph: (1) (A) There is established a court which shall have jurisdiction to hear applications for and grant orders approving electronic surveillance anywhere within the United States under the procedures set forth in this Act. (B) The court established under paragraph (1) shall consist of 11 publicly designated district court judges, of whom— (i) 2 judges shall be designated by the President; (ii) 1 judge shall be designated by a majority of the Supreme Court; (iii) 2 judges shall be designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; (iv) 2 judges shall be designated by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; (v) 2 judges shall be designated by the majority leader of the Senate; and (vi) 2 judges shall be designated by the minority leader of the Senate. (C) No judge designated under this subsection (except when sitting en banc under paragraph (2)) shall hear the same application for electronic surveillance under this Act which has been denied previously by another judge designated under this subsection. If any judge so designated denies an application for an order authorizing electronic surveillance under this Act, such judge shall provide immediately for the record a written statement of each reason for his decision and, on motion of the United States, the record shall be transmitted, under seal, to the court of review established in subsection (b). ; and (2) in subsection (b), by striking The Chief Justice A majority of the Supreme Court 3. Public availability of significant opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Section 601 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ( 50 U.S.C. 1871 (1) in subsection (c)— (A) in the heading, by striking Submissions to Congress Submissions to Congress and public availability of certain opinions (B) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— (i) by striking The Attorney General Subject to subsection (d), the Attorney General (ii) by inserting and make publicly available in subsection (a) (2) in subsection (d)— (A) by striking Protection of National Security.— Protection of National Security.— (1) Redaction of materials The Attorney General ; (B) in paragraph (1), as designated under subparagraph (A), by inserting and made publicly available in subsection (a) (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (2) Waiver of public availability (A) Waiver The Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, may waive the requirement to make a decision, order, or opinion described in subsection (c) publicly available under such subsection if the Attorney General determines the public disclosure of such decision, order, or opinion (including public disclosure in redacted form) would cause harm to the national security of the United States. (B) Report The Attorney General shall quarterly make publicly available an estimate of the number of decisions, orders, or opinions for which the Attorney General waived under subparagraph (A) the requirement under subsection (c) to make such decisions, orders, or opinions publicly available and the reasons for waiving such requirement. .

Summary: FISA Court Oversight Underscoring Responsibility and Transparency Act or the FISA COURT Act - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to require the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to consist of 11 publicly designated district court judges, of whom: 2 judges are designated by the President; 1 judge is designated by a majority of the Supreme Court; and 2 judges each are designated, respectively, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate. (Currently, the Chief Justice designates all 11 judges.) Requires a majority of the Supreme Court (currently, the Chief Justice alone) to designate three judges from the U.S. district courts or courts of appeals who shall comprise the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. Requires the Attorney General (DOJ) to make publicly available: (1) copies of FISA court decisions, orders, pleadings, applications, and memoranda currently submitted to Congress, subject to the authority of the Attorney General to waive such public availability requirements for national security purposes; and (2) a quarterly estimate of the number of waivers along with the reasons for such waivers.