Should Congress require the FBI to report any information collected about US citizens in relation to foreign intelligence?
The bill seeks to refine the restrictions imposed on FBI agents who request queries regarding US citizens. This bill would amend the Foreign Intelligence Act of 1978 specifically focused on section 702 which relates to American citizens’ personal information collection. The bill would require the bureau to inform Congress, or authorized supervisors about any queries which include information about US citizens, with the National Security Consideration of classified information being excluded from these requirements.
Sponsor: Rep. Laurel M. Lee (Republican, Florida, District 15)
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Opponents say
At the time of research and publication, no official opposing statements have been identified. This does not mean that nobody opposes the bill, nor does it mean that opposing statements will not be made in the future.
Proponents say
• "FISA is an indispensable tool that protects us from national security threats within the United States and abroad, [...] The RISA Act will bring meaningful change to surveillance operations that protects us against adversarial threats in addition to safeguarding our civil liberties. This bill also increases transparency in surveillance applications and will hold government employees accountable who violate the authorities in FISA." Source: Rep. Laurel M. Lee (Republican, Florida, District 15).
• "What we’re talking about is a program that was designed to target foreigners, it is targeting foreigners, but it is harvesting massive amounts of data. And incidentally collects our information, our communications, members of Congress, donors to members of Congress, regular constituents who get up and go to work they get swept up in this. What they’re saying now at this legal scaffolding is because we collected it legally we can legally go in there without a warrant and search for Americans, there is a problem with that." Source: Rep. Thomas Massie (Republican, Kentucky, District 4)
- Rep. Laurel Lee Introduces RISA Act, Significant Reforms to FISA (Press Release)
- How the FISA process actually works (Washington Post)
- What’s the database the FBI misused to seek info on Jan. 6 suspects, BLM arrestees? (The Washington Post)
- Reforming Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for a Digital Landscape (CSIS)
- Representative Laurel M. Lee's Largest Donors (OpenSecrets)
