[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 693 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 693

 To provide for judicial review of national security letters issued to 
         wire and electronic communications service providers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 4, 2005

  Mr. Cornyn introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for judicial review of national security letters issued to 
         wire and electronic communications service providers.

    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 ``Electronic Communications Privacy 
Judicial Review and Improvement Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

    (a) In General.--Section 2709(a) of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``A wire or electronic communication 
        service provider'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--A wire or electronic communication 
        service provider''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Judicial review.--A wire or electronic communication 
        service provider who receives a request under subsection (b) 
        may, at any time, seek a court order from an appropriate United 
        States district court to modify or set aside the request. Any 
        such motion shall state the grounds for challenging the request 
        with particularity. The court may modify or set aside the 
        request if compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive.''.
    (b) Nondisclosure.--Section 2709(c) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``No wire or electronic communication 
        service provider'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--No wire or electronic communication 
        service provider''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Judicial review.--A wire or electronic communication 
        service provider who receives a request under subsection (b) 
        may, at any time, seek a court order from an appropriate United 
        States district court challenging the nondisclosure requirement 
        under paragraph (1). Any such motion shall state the grounds 
        for challenging the nondisclosure requirement with 
        particularity.
            ``(3) Standard of review.--The court may modify or set 
        aside such a nondisclosure requirement if there is no reason to 
        believe that disclosure may endanger the national security of 
        the United States, interfere with a criminal, counterterrorism, 
        or counterintelligence investigation, interfere with diplomatic 
        relations, or endanger the life or physical safety of any 
        person. In reviewing a nondisclosure requirement, the 
        certification by the Government that the disclosure may 
        endanger the national security of the United States or 
        interfere with diplomatic relations shall be treated as 
        conclusive unless the court finds that the certification was 
        made in bad faith.''.

SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS.

    Section 2709(a) of title 18, United States Code, as amended by 
section 2(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Enforcement of requests.--The Attorney General may 
        seek enforcement of a request under subsection (b) in an 
        appropriate United States district court if a recipient refuses 
        to comply with the request.''.

SEC. 4. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.

    (a) Secure Proceedings.--Section 2709 of title 18, United States 
Code, as amended by sections 2 and 3, is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Secure proceedings.--The disclosure of information in 
        any proceedings under this subsection may be limited consistent 
        with the requirements of the Classified Information Procedures 
        Act (18 U.S.C. App).''; and
            (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Secure proceedings.--The disclosure of information in 
        any proceedings under this subsection may be limited consistent 
        with the requirements of the Classified Information Procedures 
        Act (18 U.S.C. App).''.
    (b) Disclosure to Necessary Persons.--Section 2709(c)(1) of title 
18, United States Code, as amended by section 2(b)(1), is further 
amended--
            (1) by inserting after ``any person'' the following: ``, 
        except for disclosure to an attorney to obtain legal advice 
        regarding the request or to persons to whom disclosure is 
        necessary in order to comply with the request,''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``Any attorney or 
        person whose assistance is necessary to comply with the request 
        who is notified of the request also shall not disclose to any 
        person that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought or 
        obtained access to information or records under this 
        section.''.
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