The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Comparison of House-Passed H.R. 3773, S. 2248 as Reported by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and S. 2248 as Reported Out of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Released: 2008-02-08T00:00:00

Introduction

During the 110 th Congress, several House and Senate committees have engaged in oversight activities, including hearings and requests for expeditious production of documents and information regarding the Administration's warrantless foreign intelligence surveillance programs, as possible changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, as amended, were explored. In July 2007, an unclassified summary of the National Intelligence Estimate on "The Terrorist Threat to the U.S. Homeland" was released. It expressed the judgment, in part, that the U/S. Homeland will face a persistent and evolving threat over the next three years, the main threat coming from Islamic terrorist groups and cells, particularly Al Qaeda. On August 2, 2007, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) released a statement on "Modernization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." In his statement, Admiral McConnell viewed such modernization as necessary to respond to technological changes and to meet the Nation's current intelligence collection needs. He deemed it essential for the Intelligence Community to provide warning of threats to the United States. He perceived two critically needed changes. First, he stated that a court order should not be required for gathering foreign intelligence from foreign targets located overseas, although he did agree to court review of related procedures after commencement of the needed collection. Second, he contended that liability protection was needed for those who furnished aid to the government in carrying out its foreign intelligence collection efforts.

On August 5, 2007, the Protect America Act of 2007, P.L. 110-55 , was enacted into law with a 180 day sunset provision, providing a temporary solution to concerns raised by the Director of National Intelligence. Both the House and the Senate have considered or are considering possible legislation to provide a longer-term statutory approach to these concerns. On November 15, 2007, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3773 , the Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 or the RESTORE Act of 2007. On October 26, 2007, Senator Rockefeller reported S. 2248 , the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2007 or the FISA Amendment Act of 2007, an original bill, from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. S. 2248 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 1, 2007. On November 16, 2007, S. 2248 was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. On December 14, 2007, Senator Reid made a motion to proceed with consideration of S. 2248 , and presented a cloture motion on the motion to proceed. The motion to proceed was then withdrawn. On December 17, 2007, the Senate considered the motion to proceed with the measure. Cloture on the motion to proceed was invoked by a vote of 76-10, Record Vote Number 435. After some debate in the closing hours before the Senate broke for the holidays, a decision was made to revisit the measure when the Members returned in January.

Senate floor activities on S. 2248 resumed on January 23 and 24, 2008. A modified version of the Senate Judiciary Committee's amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 2248 was tabled. Senator Reid sought unanimous consent for consideration of the House-passed bill, H.R. 3773 , but Senator McConnell objected. Senator Rockefeller, for himself and Senator Bond, proposed an amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 2248 ( S.Amdt. 3911 ). On January 28, 2008, a cloture motion by Senator McConnell on this amendment failed to pass. A cloture motion on an amendment proposed by Senator Reid to S. 2248 to extend the sunset on the Protect America Act for an additional 30 days ( S.Amdt. 3918 ) also fell short of the required votes. Other amendments to S. 2248 have been proposed. On January 29, 2008, both the House and the Senate passed H.R. 5104 , a 15-day extension to the sunset for the Protect America Act, to allow further time to consider, pass, and go to conference on proposed legislation to amend FISA, while ensuring that the intelligence community would have the authority it needed in the intervening period. Pursuant to an agreement and order of January 31, 2008, S.Amdts. 3909, as modified; 3932, as modified; 3960, as modified; and S.Amdt. 3945 were agreed to, while other amendments were scheduled for floor debate. In the ensuing floor consideration to date, S.Amdt. 3941 was agreed to, while S.Amdts. 3913 and 3915 failed to pass on February 7, 2008. S.Amdt. 3930 fell short of the requisite 60 votes and was withdrawn on February 6, 2008. Still pending are S.Amdts. 3938, as modified, 3911, 3907, 3927, 3919, 3920, and 3910. Floor debate is anticipated to continue early next week, with additional votes expected on Tuesday, February 12, 2008.

H.R. 3773 , S. 2248 and the Senate amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 2248 , each includes amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This report provides a side by side comparison of the provisions of these three measures, using H.R. 3773 as the basis for the comparison. As title I of FISA defines a number of key terms critical to understanding the import of the bills' language, a glossary of FISA terms as defined in section 101 of FISA, 50 U.S.C. § 1801 is attached to assist in understanding the effect of these measures. Senator Reid introduced two additional FISA bills on December 10, 2007, S. 2440 and S. 2441 , which were read twice the following day and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar as Numbers 529 and 530, respectively. S. 2402 was introduced by Senator Specter on December 3, 2007, and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. In Committee markup on December 13, 2007, an amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 2402 was adopted by unanimous consent. Then, by a vote of 5-13, the Committee rejected S. 2402 , as amended. The proposal would have permitted substitution of the government for electronic communication service providers in law suits where certain criteria were met. These bills will not be included in this side-by-side comparison.

Glossary of FISA Terms from 50 U.S.C. § 1801

As used in title I of FISA, 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq .:

(a) "Foreign power" means—

(1) a foreign government or any component thereof, whether or not recognized by the United States;

(2) a faction of a foreign nation or nations, not substantially composed of United States persons;

(3) an entity that is openly acknowledged by a foreign government or governments to be directed and controlled by such foreign government or governments;

(4) a group engaged in international terrorism or activities in preparation therefor;

(5) a foreign-based political organization, not substantially composed of United States persons; or

(6) an entity that is directed and controlled by a foreign government or governments.

(b) "Agent of a foreign power" means—

(1) any person other than a United States person, who—

(A) acts in the United States as an officer or employee of a foreign power, or as a member of a foreign power as defined in subsection (a)(4) of this section;

(B) acts for or on behalf of a foreign power which engages in clandestine intelligence activities in the United States contrary to the interests of the United States, when the circumstances of such person's presence in the United States indicate that such person may engage in such activities in the United States, or when such person knowingly aids or abets any person in the conduct of such activities or knowingly conspires with any person to engage in such activities; or

(C) engages in international terrorism or activities in preparation therefore; or

(2) any person who—

(A) knowingly engages in clandestine intelligence gathering activities for or on behalf of a foreign power, which activities involve or may involve a violation of the criminal statutes of the United States;

(B) pursuant to the direction of an intelligence service or network of a foreign power, knowingly engages in any other clandestine intelligence activities for or on behalf of such foreign power, which activities involve or are about to involve a violation of the criminal statutes of the United States;

(C) knowingly engages in sabotage or international terrorism, or activities that are in preparation therefor, for or on behalf of a foreign power;

(D) knowingly enters the United States under a false or fraudulent identity for or on behalf of a foreign power or, while in the United States, knowingly assumes a false or fraudulent identity for or on behalf of a foreign power; or

(E) knowingly aids or abets any person in the conduct of activities described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) or knowingly conspires with any person to engage in activities described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).

(c) "International terrorism" means activities that—

(1) involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or any State;

(2) appear to be intended—

(A) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(B) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

(C) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping; and

(3) occur totally outside the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to coerce or intimidate, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.

(d) "Sabotage" means activities that involve a violation of chapter 105 of title 18, or that would involve such a violation if committed against the United States.

(e) "Foreign intelligence information" means—

(1) information that relates to, and if concerning a United States person is necessary to, the ability of the United States to protect against—

(A) actual or potential attack or other grave hostile acts of a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power;

(B) sabotage or international terrorism by a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power; or

(C) clandestine intelligence activities by an intelligence service or network of a foreign power or by an agent of a foreign power; or

(2) information with respect to a foreign power or foreign territory that relates to, and if concerning a United States person is necessary to—

(A) the national defense or the security of the United States; or

(B) the conduct of the foreign affairs of the United States.

(f) "Electronic surveillance" means—

(1) the acquisition by an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device of the contents of any wire or radio communication sent by or intended to be received by a particular, known United States person who is in the United States, if the contents are acquired by intentionally targeting that United States person, under circumstances in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would be required for law enforcement purposes;

(2) the acquisition by an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device of the contents of any wire communication to or from a person in the United States, without the consent of any party thereto, if such acquisition occurs in the United States, but does not include the acquisition of those communications of computer trespassers that would be permissible under section 2511(2)(i) of title 18;

(3) the intentional acquisition by an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device of the contents of any radio communication, under circumstances in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would be required for law enforcement purposes, and if both the sender and all intended recipients are located within the United States; or

(4) the installation or use of an electronic, mechanical, or other surveillance device in the United States for monitoring to acquire information, other than from a wire or radio communication, under circumstances in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and a warrant would be required for law enforcement purposes.

(g) "Attorney General" means the Attorney General of the United States (or Acting Attorney General), the Deputy Attorney General, or, upon the designation of the Attorney General, the Assistant Attorney General designated as the Assistant Attorney General for National Security under section 507A of title 28, United States Code.

(h) "Minimization procedures," with respect to electronic surveillance, means—

(1) specific procedures, which shall be adopted by the Attorney General, that are reasonably designed in light of the purpose and technique of the particular surveillance, to minimize the acquisition and retention, and prohibit the dissemination, of nonpublicly available information concerning unconsenting United States persons consistent with the need of the United States to obtain, produce, and disseminate foreign intelligence information;

(2) procedures that require that nonpublicly available information, which is not foreign intelligence information, as defined in subsection (e)(1) of this section, shall not be disseminated in a manner that identifies any United States person, without such person's consent, unless such person's identity is necessary to understand foreign intelligence information or assess its importance;

(3) notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), procedures that allow for the retention and dissemination of information that is evidence of a crime which has been, is being, or is about to be committed and that is to be retained or disseminated for law enforcement purposes; and

(4) notwithstanding paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), with respect to any electronic surveillance approved pursuant to section 1802(a) of this title, procedures that require that no contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party shall be disclosed, disseminated, or used for any purpose or retained for longer than 72 hours unless a court order under section 1805 of this title is obtained or unless the Attorney General determines that the information indicates a threat of death or serious bodily harm to any person.

(i) "United States person" means a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as defined in section 1101(a)(20) of title 8), an unincorporated association a substantial number of members of which are citizens of the United States or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or a corporation which is incorporated in the United States, but does not include a corporation or an association which is a foreign power, as defined in subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3) of this section.

(j) "United States," when used in a geographic sense, means all areas under the territorial sovereignty of the United States and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

(k) "Aggrieved person" means a person who is the target of an electronic surveillance or any other person whose communications or activities were subject to electronic surveillance.

(l) "Wire communication" means any communication while it is being carried by a wire, cable, or other like connection furnished or operated by any person engaged as a common carrier in providing or operating such facilities for the transmission of interstate or foreign communications.

(m) "Person" means any individual, including any officer or employee of the federal government, or any group, entity, association, corporation, or foreign power.

(n) "Contents," when used with respect to a communication, includes any information concerning the identity of the parties to such communication or the existence, substance, purport, or meaning of that communication.

(o) "State" means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and any territory or possession of the United States.