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“THE ``LIMITING INTERNET AND BLANKET ELECTRONIC REVIEW OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND EMAIL (LIBERT-E) ACT''” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E899-E900 on June 17, 2013.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE ``LIMITING INTERNET AND BLANKET ELECTRONIC REVIEW OF
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND EMAIL (LIBERT-E) ACT''
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HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Monday, June 17, 2013
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, in light of the recent public revelations about the National Security Agency's extensive surveillance programs, today we are introducing bipartisan legislation that will curtail the excesses of these programs and protect our privacy rights. The
``Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email (LIBERT-E) Act'' contains commonsense proposals to strengthen our civil liberties and hold our government accountable.
Specifically, the LIBERT-E Act provides for the following legislative changes:
The legislation reforms access to certain business records for foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations. Section 2 of the LIBERT-E Act changes Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act in order to prevent the mass collection of business records that are not material to an authorized foreign intelligence investigation, an international terrorism investigation, or clandestine intelligence activities.
Currently, in order to obtain a Section 215 court order, the government need only show that the records are ``relevant'' to such an investigation. Recent reports suggest that the government's view of the
``relevance'' standard includes records of every telephone call on a given network. Section 2 of the LIBERT-E Act would also require that the government show that the relevance of these records to the investigation is based on ``specific and articulable'' facts, that the records are material to the investigation, and that the records
``pertain only to individuals under such investigation.'' In addition, the section removes a list of
``presumptively relevant'' records. The government should be required to show that the records it seeks are, in fact, material to a particular concern. The section also guarantees the recipient of a Section 215 order the right to challenge an accompanying gag order, and ensures notice and due process for any such challenger.
The LIBERT-E Act also requires additional disclosures to Congress and the public in Section 3 of the legislation. This section provides for greater accountability and transparency in the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This section amends existing reporting requirements contained in Section 601 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1871) by requiring the Attorney General to make available to all Members of Congress the information currently provided to the House and Senate intelligence and judiciary committees. It also requires that the Attorney General make unclassified summaries of each ``significant'' decision, order, or opinion of the FISA Court available to the public within 180 days of their submission to Congress. Further, this section requires the Inspectors General of the Department of Justice and the Intelligence Community to report on the impact that acquisition of foreign intelligence has had on the privacy of persons located in the United States.
Lastly, the fourth section of the LIBERT-E Act requires that each assessment or review required under Title VII of FISA be submitted in unclassified form, with an unclassified index if necessary.
I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan measure, which protects our privacy and increases transparency in the government's use of these authorities.
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