California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 27

Introduced by Assembly Member Donnelly

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Allen, Harkey, Jones, Mansoor, Olsen, and Wilk)

(Coauthor: Senator Anderson)

July 2, 2013

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 27—Relative to privacy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 27, as introduced, Donnelly. Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act.

This measure would urge Congress to pass and the President to sign into law the Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act (LIBERT-E Act), and ensure that the American people are protected from massive invasions of their privacy.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Representative Justin Amash, Chairman of the
House Liberty Caucus, and Representative John Conyers, Jr., the
Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee, announced
the introduction of bipartisan legislation to address National
Security Agency (NSA) surveillance; and

WHEREAS, House Resolution 2399, the Limiting Internet and
Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act
(LIBERT-E Act), restricts the federal government’s ability under
the Patriot Act to collect information on Americans who are not
connected to an ongoing investigation. The bill also requires that
secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court opinions
be made available to Congress and summaries of the opinions be
made available to the public; and

WHEREAS, A coalition of 32 Members of Congress joined
Representatives Conyers and Amash in introducing the bill late
Monday, June 17, 2013; and

WHEREAS, In a statement, Representatives Conyers and Amash
stated: “The recent NSA leaks indicate that the federal government
collects phone records and intercepts electronic communications
on a scale previously unknown to most Americans. The LIBERT-E
Act imposes reasonable limits on the federal government’s
surveillance”; and

WHEREAS, Representatives Conyers and Amash also stated:
“[The LIBERT-E Act] also makes sure that innocent Americans’
information isn’t needlessly swept up into a government database”;
and

WHEREAS, Thirty-two Representatives from both sides of the
aisle cosponsored the LIBERT-E Act; and

WHEREAS, Representative Judy Chu of California stated:
“Oversight conducted in secret defeats its purpose. Congress should
be able to have an open dialogue with the American people on
how our surveillance programs impact individual privacy. That’s
why I support the release of unclassified reports by the
Administration on how FISA powers are used. We must protect
our national security operations, but we need to strike a balance
between clandestine efforts and transparency in our society”; and

WHEREAS, Representative Barbara Lee of California stated:
“The right to privacy in this country in non-negotiable. While I
believe that national security is essential, we must protect our most
basic civil liberties and move forward in a way that does not
sacrifice our American values and freedoms. I’m proud to be an
original co-sponsor of this bill, which ensures that we keep a better
balance between our privacy and our national security by limiting
the scope of records that can be handed over and by re-establishing
and strengthening Congress’ vital role of accountability and
oversight of this issue”; and

WHEREAS, Representative Zoe Lofgren of California stated:
“Increasingly it seems surveillance laws are used in ways that do
not always respect Americans’ Constitutional rights for privacy
or provide adequate transparency to ensure the government is
acting appropriately. The revelations that these laws that should
be targeting threats to our country have also been quietly used to
collect millions of Americans’ personal information justifies the
public’s apprehension about government abuse of surveillance
powers. The LIBERT-E Act raises the standards needed to obtain
personal information in national security investigations, prevents
dragnets, and requires greater transparency on how agencies are
using the surveillance powers Congress grants them”; and

WHEREAS, Representative Tom McClintock, also of California,
stated: “A free society does not depend on a police state that tracks
the behavior of every citizen for its security. A free society depends
instead on principles of law that protect liberty while meting out
stern punishment to those who abuse it”; and

WHEREAS, The LIBERT-E Act enjoys bipartisan efforts from
hundreds of groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the
American Civil Liberties Union, and the Republican Liberty
Caucus urging constituents to demand support from their
representatives; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges Congress to pass
and the President to sign into law the Limiting Internet and Blanket
Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act, and
ensure that the American people are protected from massive
invasions of their privacy; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, to the Minority Leader of the Senate, and to
each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress
of the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.