NSA Oversight Act

NSA Oversight Act - States that provisions of the federal criminal code concerning wire and electronic communications and their interception and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 are the exclusive means by which domestic electronic surveillance may be conducted until specific statutory authorization for any other such surveillance is enacted.

Requires the President to report to the congressional intelligence and judiciary committees identifying U.S. persons who have been the subject of electronic surveillance not conducted under the above requirements, as well as the basis for the selection of such persons for such surveillance.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4976 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4976

To reiterate that chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, United States Code, 
and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 are the exclusive 
 means by which domestic electronic surveillance may be conducted, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2006

 Mr. Schiff (for himself and Mr. Flake) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 
   to the Select 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reiterate that chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, United States Code, 
and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 are the exclusive 
 means by which domestic electronic surveillance may be conducted, 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 ``NSA Oversight Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On September 11, 2001, acts of treacherous violence 
        were committed against the United States and its citizens.
            (2) Such acts render it both necessary and appropriate that 
        the United States exercise its right to self-defense by 
        protecting United States citizens both at home and abroad.
            (3) The Federal Government has a duty to pursue al Qaeda 
        and other enemies of the United States with all available 
        tools, including the use of electronic surveillance, to thwart 
        future attacks on the United States and to destroy the enemy.
            (4) The President of the United States possesses the 
        inherent authority to engage in electronic surveillance of the 
        enemy outside of the United States consistent with his 
        authority as Commander-in-Chief under Article II of the 
        Constitution.
            (5) Congress possesses the authority to regulate electronic 
        surveillance within the United States.
            (6) The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees to 
        the American people the right ``to be secure in their persons, 
        houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and 
        seizures'' and provides that courts shall issue ``warrants'' to 
        authorize searches and seizures, based upon probable cause.
            (7) The Supreme Court has consistently held for nearly 40 
        years that the monitoring and recording of private 
        conversations constitutes a ``search and seizure'' within the 
        meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
            (8) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 
        U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) and chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, 
        United States Code, were enacted to provide the legal authority 
        for the Federal Government to engage in searches of Americans 
        in connection with criminal investigations, intelligence 
        gathering, and counterintelligence.
            (9) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and 
        specified provisions of the Federal criminal code, were 
        expressly enacted as the ``exclusive means by which electronic 
        surveillance . . . may be conducted'' domestically pursuant to 
        law (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(f)).
            (10) Warrantless electronic surveillance of Americans 
        inside the United States conducted without congressional 
        authorization may have a serious impact on the civil liberties 
        of citizens of the United States.
            (11) United States citizens, such as journalists, 
        academics, and researchers studying global terrorism, who have 
        made international phone calls subsequent to the terrorist 
        attacks of September 11, 2001, and are law-abiding citizens, 
        may have the reasonable fear of being the subject of such 
        surveillance.
            (12) Since the nature and criteria of the National Security 
        Agency (NSA) program is highly classified and unknown to the 
        public, many other Americans who make frequent international 
        calls, such as Americans engaged in international business, 
        Americans with family overseas, and others, have a legitimate 
        concern they may be the inadvertent targets of eavesdropping.
            (13) The President has sought and signed legislation 
        including the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing 
        Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism 
        (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-56), and the 
        Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Protection Act of 2004 
        (Public Law 108-458), that have expanded authorities under the 
        Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.
            (14) It may be necessary and desirable to amend the Foreign 
        Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to address new challenges 
        in the Global War on Terrorism. The President should submit a 
        request for legislation to Congress to amend the Foreign 
        Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 if the President desires 
        that the electronic surveillance authority provided by such Act 
        be further modified.
            (15) The Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public 
        Law 107-40), passed by Congress on September 14, 2001, 
        authorized military action against those responsible for the 
        attacks on September 11, 2001, but did not contain legal 
        authorization nor approve of domestic electronic surveillance 
        not authorized by chapters 119 or 121 of title 18, United 
        States Code, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 
        1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).

SEC. 3. REITERATION OF CHAPTERS 119 AND 121 OF TITLE 18, UNITED STATES 
              CODE, AND THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 
              1978 AS THE EXCLUSIVE MEANS BY WHICH DOMESTIC ELECTRONIC 
              SURVEILLANCE MAY BE CONDUCTED.

    (a) Exclusive Means.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
chapters 119 and 121 of title 18, United States Code, and the Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) shall be 
the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance may be conducted.
    (b) Future Congressional Action.--Subsection (a) shall apply until 
specific statutory authorization for electronic surveillance, other 
than as an amendment to chapters 119 or 121 of title 18, United States 
Code, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 
1801 et seq.), is enacted. Such specific statutory authorization shall 
be the only exception to subsection (a).

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.

    Not later than 14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the President shall submit to the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 
Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence and the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report in classified form 
identifying the United States persons who have been the subject of 
electronic surveillance not authorized to be conducted under the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) 
or chapters 119 or 121 of title 18, United States Code, and the basis 
for the selection of such persons for such electronic surveillance.

SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``electronic surveillance'' has the meaning 
given the term in section 101(f) of the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801(f)).
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