[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 86 (Monday, June 17, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E899-E900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE ``LIMITING INTERNET AND BLANKET ELECTRONIC REVIEW OF 
             TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND EMAIL (LIBERT-E) ACT''

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 17, 2013

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, in light of the recent public revelations 
about the National Security Agency's extensive surveillance programs, 
today we are introducing bipartisan legislation that will curtail the 
excesses of these programs and protect our privacy rights. The 
``Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of Telecommunications 
and Email (LIBERT-E) Act'' contains commonsense proposals to strengthen 
our civil liberties and hold our government accountable.
  Specifically, the LIBERT-E Act provides for the following legislative 
changes:
  The legislation reforms access to certain business records for 
foreign intelligence and international terrorism investigations. 
Section 2 of the LIBERT-E Act changes Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT 
Act in order to prevent the mass collection of business records that 
are not material to an authorized foreign intelligence investigation, 
an international terrorism investigation, or clandestine intelligence 
activities.
  Currently, in order to obtain a Section 215 court order, the 
government need only show that the records are ``relevant'' to such an 
investigation. Recent reports suggest that the government's view of the 
``relevance'' standard includes records of every telephone call on a 
given network. Section 2 of the LIBERT-E Act would also require that 
the government show that the relevance of these records to the 
investigation is based on ``specific and articulable'' facts, that the 
records are material to the investigation, and that the records 
``pertain only to individuals under such investigation.'' In addition, 
the section removes a list of

[[Page E900]]

``presumptively relevant'' records. The government should be required 
to show that the records it seeks are, in fact, material to a 
particular concern. The section also guarantees the recipient of a 
Section 215 order the right to challenge an accompanying gag order, and 
ensures notice and due process for any such challenger.
  The LIBERT-E Act also requires additional disclosures to Congress and 
the public in Section 3 of the legislation. This section provides for 
greater accountability and transparency in the implementation of the 
USA PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This 
section amends existing reporting requirements contained in Section 601 
of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1871) 
by requiring the Attorney General to make available to all Members of 
Congress the information currently provided to the House and Senate 
intelligence and judiciary committees. It also requires that the 
Attorney General make unclassified summaries of each ``significant'' 
decision, order, or opinion of the FISA Court available to the public 
within 180 days of their submission to Congress. Further, this section 
requires the Inspectors General of the Department of Justice and the 
Intelligence Community to report on the impact that acquisition of 
foreign intelligence has had on the privacy of persons located in the 
United States.
  Lastly, the fourth section of the LIBERT-E Act requires that each 
assessment or review required under Title VII of FISA be submitted in 
unclassified form, with an unclassified index if necessary.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan measure, which 
protects our privacy and increases transparency in the government's use 
of these authorities.

                          ____________________