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119-hr-8178119th Congress

Protecting Americans from Unauthorized Surveillance Act

Sponsored By: Representative Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]

Introduced

Summary

This bill would create formal internal oversight of FISA applications and require the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get independent legal input in every proceeding.

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  • Creates a FISA Oversight Office inside the Department of Justice to review every Title I FISA application. It could join cases and move to challenge whether the probable cause standard is met and must report to Congress within 365 days on the number of challenges filed or declined and details about the targets and information sought.
  • Gives the Office access to all available evidence in investigations that target a United States person and requires the Office be notified whenever an application is filed for such a person.
  • Requires the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to appoint an amicus curiae for each application or review, formalizing court-appointed independent counsel to assist the court in considering every FISA order.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

More oversight for surveillance of U.S. persons

If enacted, the bill would create a FISA Oversight Office inside the Department of Justice. The Office would review every Title I FISA application and would get all evidence about any investigation into a United States person. Federal agencies would have to notify the Office each time they file a Title I application. The Office would be able to join cases and file motions to challenge probable-cause findings, and it would be required to do so when an application targets a United States person and the Office finds probable cause is not clearly met. The Attorney General and the Director would have to report to Congress within 365 days on how many applications the Office challenged and how many it declined to challenge. The bill would also require the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to appoint a designated amicus curiae to assist the court in every Title I application or review, consistent with the court's timing rules.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36]

CA • D

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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