SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Secret Law 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Secret law is inconsistent with democratic 
governance. In order for the rule of law to prevail, 
the requirements of the law must be publicly discov-
erable. 
(2) The United States Court of Appeals for the 
Seventh Circuit stated in 1998 that the ‘‘idea of se-
cret laws is repugnant’’. 
(3) The open publication of laws and directives 
is a defining characteristic of government of the 
United States. The first Congress of the United 
States mandated that every ‘‘law, order, resolution, 
and vote [shall] be published in at least three of the 
public newspapers printed within the United 
States’’. 
(4) The practice of withholding decisions of the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is at odds 
with the United States tradition of open publication 
of law. 
(5) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court 
acknowledges that such Court has issued legally sig-
nificant interpretations of the Foreign Intelligence 
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Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) 
that are not accessible to the public. 
(6) The exercise of surveillance authorities 
under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 
1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), as interpreted by se-
cret court opinions, potentially implicates the com-
munications of United States persons who are nec-
essarily unaware of such surveillance. 
(7) Section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Sur-
veillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861), as amended 
by section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Public 
Law 107–56; 115 Stat. 287), authorizes the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation to require the production of 
‘‘any tangible things’’ and the extent of such author-
ity, as interpreted by secret court opinions, has been 
concealed from the knowledge and awareness of the 
people of the United States. 
(8) In 2010, the Department of Justice and the 
Office of the Director of National Intelligence estab-
lished a process to review and declassify opinions of 
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, but 
more than two years later no declassifications have 
been made. 
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SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that each decision, order, 
or opinion issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 
Court or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of 
Review that includes significant construction or interpre-
tation of section 501 or section 702 of the Foreign Intel-
ligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861 and 
1881a) should be declassified in a manner consistent with 
the protection of national security, intelligence sources and 
methods, and other properly classified and sensitive infor-
mation. 
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE OF DECISIONS, 
ORDERS, AND OPINIONS OF THE FOREIGN IN-
TELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT. 
(a) SECTION 501.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 501 of the Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 
1861) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) DISCLOSURE OF DECISIONS.— 
‘‘(1) DECISION DEFINED.—In this subsection, 
the term ‘decision’ means any decision, order, or 
opinion issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveil-
lance Court or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 
Court of Review that includes significant construc-
tion or interpretation of this section. 
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‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT
FOR
DISCLOSURE.—Sub-
ject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the Attorney General 
shall declassify and make available to the public— 
‘‘(A) each decision that is required to be 
submitted to committees of Congress under sec-
tion 601(c), not later than 45 days after such 
opinion is issued; and 
‘‘(B) each decision issued prior to the date 
of the enactment of the Ending Secret Law Act 
that was required to be submitted to commit-
tees of Congress under section 601(c), not later 
than 180 days after such date of enactment. 
‘‘(3) 
UNCLASSIFIED
SUMMARIES.—Notwith-
standing paragraph (2) and subject to paragraph 
(4), if the Attorney General makes a determination 
that a decision may not be declassified and made 
available in a manner that protects the national se-
curity of the United States, including methods or 
sources related to national security, the Attorney 
General shall release an unclassified summary of 
such decision. 
‘‘(4) UNCLASSIFIED REPORT.—Notwithstanding 
paragraphs (2) and (3), if the Attorney General 
makes a determination that any decision may not be 
declassified under paragraph (2) and an unclassified 
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