FISA Improvements Act of 2019
This bill makes various changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, such as by requiring amicus curiae (i.e., outside parties that assist in consideration of a case) involvement in certain matters.
An amicus curiae shall assist the court when it is considering an initial application seeking permission to target an identifiable U.S. person for certain types of foreign intelligence investigative activities (such as electronic surveillance or a physical search).
An application to the court for an order for electronic surveillance shall include a statement fully disclosing any information used in the application that the government cannot substantiate.
The bill also requires transcriptions of proceedings before the court. The Department of Justice shall maintain all written communications with the court and written summaries of oral communications with the court.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5396 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5396
To amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to require
reviews by amici curiae of applications made to the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 11, 2019
Mr. Stewart (for himself, Mr. Nunes, Mr. Conaway, Mr. Turner, Mr.
Wenstrup, Mr. Crawford, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Bishop of North Carolina, Mr.
Gaetz, and Mr. Hurd of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 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 amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to require
reviews by amici curiae of applications made to the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``FISA Improvements Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. ENHANCED FIDELITY OF FISA APPLICATIONS AND PROCESSES ASSOCIATED
WITH THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE COURT.
(a) Mandatory Review by Amicus Curiae.--Section 103(i) of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(i)(2)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(C) shall appoint an individual who has been
designated under paragraph (1) to serve as amicus
curiae to assist such court in the consideration of any
initial application for an order that seeks to target
an identifiable United States person pursuant to
sections 104, 303, 703, or 704.''; and
(2) in paragraph (4)--
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (C)
as clauses (i) through (iii), respectively;
(B) by striking ``If a court'' and inserting ``(A)
Novel or significant interpretations of law--If a
court'', and adjusting the margins accordingly; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(B) Initial applications.--If a court established
under subsection (a) appoints an amicus curiae under
paragraph (2)(C), the amicus curiae shall review the
submitted application for which the individual has been
appointed to assess the sufficiency of evidence
supporting the probable cause determination required to
issue an order pursuant to the application and provide
to the court a written recommendation regarding such
sufficiency.''.
(b) Disclosure of Unverified Information.--Section 104(a) of such
Act (50 U.S.C. 1804(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a
semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(10) a statement fully disclosing the use of any
information in the application that the Government cannot
substantiate based on any supporting intelligence or open-
source information available to the Government at the time of
the application, including, at a minimum--
``(A) the origin of such information;
``(B) the means by which the Government obtained
such information;
``(C) a summary of each step the Government took to
verify the information prior to using the information
in the application;
``(D) whether the Government has used such
information in any other judicial proceeding; and
``(E) the necessity of using such information to
support the probable cause determination required by
section 105.''.
(c) Transcripts of Proceedings.--Subsection (c) of section 103 of
such Act (50 U.S.C. 1803) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``, and shall be transcribed'' before the
first period; and
(2) by inserting ``, transcriptions,'' after ``applications
made''.
(d) Written Record of Interactions With Court.--Such section is
further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(l) Written Record of Interactions.--The Attorney General shall
maintain all written communications with the court established under
subsection (a), including the identity of the employees of the court to
or from whom the communications were made, regarding an application or
order made under this title in a file associated with the application
or order. The Attorney General shall document a summary of any oral
communications with the court, including the identity of the employees
of the court to or from whom the communications were made, relating to
such an application or order and keep such documentation in a file
associated with the application or order.''.
(e) Extensions.--Section 105(d)(2) of such Act (50 U.S.C.
1805(d)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence:
``To the extent practicable, an extension of an order issued under this
title shall be granted or denied by the same judge who issued the
original order.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 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.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 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.
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