[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7474-S7478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CHAMBLISS (for himself and Mr. Kyl):
  S. 2599. A bill to strengthen anti-terrorism investigative tools, to 
enhance prevention and prosecution of terrorist crimes, to combat 
terrorism financing, to improve border and transportation security, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a bill that 
will facilitate the sharing of information from Federal law enforcement 
agencies to State and local law enforcement. Right now, existing 
Federal law authorizes the FBI to obtain certain records and 
information, such as telephone records, bank records, and consumer 
credit records, in investigations of terrorist activities. One of the 
tools

[[Page S7478]]

that the FBI uses for this purpose is the National Security Letter (or 
NSL), which is, in effect, a limited type of administrative subpoena 
that is directed to the institutions that have these records. The 
statutes authorizing the use of NSLs generally require that the 
requested information be relevant to an investigation of international 
terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, and these statues 
prohibit investigations based solely on First Amendment-protected 
activities of people known under the law as ``United States persons,'' 
which is a group consisting of U.S. citizens and permanent resident 
aliens.
  Unfortunately, when the FBI receives records or information provided 
to it in response to NSLs, several different statutes govern the 
circumstances under which the Bureau may disseminate this information 
to other agencies. The standards differ from statute to statute--
complicating the sharing of the information with other agencies that 
may need it for counterterrorism purposes--and a number of these 
provisions curiously are more restrictive about information sharing 
with other Federal agencies than with non-Federal agencies. The 
Information Sharing Improvement Act of 2004 (ISIA), which I introduce 
today along with my good friend from Arizona, John Kyl, would amend 
these statutes to allow the dissemination of information obtained 
through NSLs in conformity with consistent guidelines developed by the 
Attorney General.

  The Information Sharing Improvement Act also amends a statute that 
authorizes sharing of national security-related investigative 
information with relevant Federal, State, and local officials, to make 
it clear that the statute applies regardless of whether the 
investigation in which the information was obtained is characterized as 
a ``criminal'' investigation or a ``national security'' investigation.
  Finally, the Information Sharing Improvement Act would restore 
Homeland Security Act amendments that broaden the sharing of Federal 
grand jury information concerning threatened terrorist attacks with 
State and local authorities.
  The Information Sharing Improvement Act does not expand the powers of 
the FBI or Federal prosecutors to acquire records or information, but 
it will improve their ability to share information--obtained under 
existing authorities--with Federal, State, and local agencies that need 
it to protect the public from terrorism.
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