BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SR 16
Author: Lieu (D) and Anderson (R)
Amended: 8/29/13
Vote: Majority
SUBJECT : Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution urges the President and the United
States Congress of to pass legislation to end the National
Security Agencys (NSA) blanket, unreasonable, and
unconstitutional collection of Americans' telephone records and
Internet transactions specifically to bar the NSA and other
agencies from using Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act to
collect records, including telephone records and Internet
transactions, pertaining to persons not subject to an
investigation under the USA PATRIOT Act.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/29/13 further the findings and
declarations relating to the NSA's acquisition of Internet
transactions and add Senator Anderson as a joint author.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1. Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act authorizes the government
to collect "tangible things" that are "relevant" to an
authorized national security investigation and the NSA has
reportedly used Section 215 to collect metadata on every
telephone call made or received by every American over the
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SR 16
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last seven years.
2. The federal Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
Court found in 2011 that the NSA illegally collects tens of
thousands of Internet transactions between Americans within
the United States in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the
United States Constitution and until 2011, the FISA Court,
charged with the judicial oversight of the NSA to ensure no
laws are broken, was unaware of the acquisition of tens of
thousands of Internet transactions involving Americans within
the United States who were not connected to any legitimate
investigation.
3. Many legislators who voted for the USA PATRIOT Act, including
the past chairman of the authorizing committee of that law,
have stated that the NSA's blanket surveillance program goes
far beyond what the USA PATRIOT Act was intended to do and
states that metadata collected by the NSA was not limited to
dialed numbers, but also included the telephone numbers of
incoming calls, the times of calls, and call routing
information.
4. The Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, Jr.,
has admitted to misleading Congress about the actual scope of
the call record surveillance program and Section 215 is
silent as to how the government may use these records once it
has obtained them.
5. On June 7, 2013, United States Senator Rand Paul introduced
legislation, the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act of 2013
that explicitly states that the Fourth Amendment to the
Constitution shall not be construed to allow any agency of
the United States Government to search the telephone records
of Americans without a warrant based on probable cause.
6. The government revelation in 2011 regarding the NSA's
acquisition of Internet transactions marked the third
instance in less than three years in which the government had
disclosed a substantial misrepresentation regarding the scope
of a major collection program and an NSA audit, dated May
2012, counted 2,776 incidents in the preceding 12 months
alone of unauthorized collection, storage, access to, or
distribution of legally protected communications.
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7. On August 1, 2013, United States Senator Al Franken
introduced legislation, the Surveillance Transparency Act of
2013, which expands and improves ongoing government reporting
about programs under the USA PATRIOT Act and the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act and makes it easier for
companies to voluntarily disclose information about the data
the government requires them to collect.
This resolution urges the President and the United States
Congress to pass legislation to end the NSA's blanket,
unreasonable, and unconstitutional collection of Americans'
telephone records and Internet transactions specifically to bar
the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the USA
PATRIOT Act to collect records, including telephone records and
Internet transactions, pertaining to persons not subject to an
investigation under the USA PATRIOT Act.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
JG:d 8/30/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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