[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 96 (Thursday, June 16, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S4315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4747. Mr. HATCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 4685 proposed by Mr. Shelby (for himself and Ms. Mikulski) 
to the bill H.R. 2578, making appropriations for the Departments of 
Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes; which was ordered to 
lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO INTERNATIONAL DATA 
                   PRIVACY.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) When the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Public 
     Law 99-508; 100 Stat. 1848) (in this section referred to as 
     ``ECPA'') was enacted in 1986, no one could have envisioned 
     the globalization of the Internet and electronic 
     communications.
       (2) Today, multinational companies serve their customers 
     around the world by storing and transferring data through a 
     complex network of global data centers.
       (3) Because ECPA never contemplated the global networks 
     that technology companies operate today, ECPA presents unique 
     challenges for a number of industries that increasingly face 
     a conflict between Federal law in the United States and the 
     laws of other countries. For example, when a technology 
     company receives a demand from a Federal law enforcement 
     agency to turn over data on behalf of foreign customers, that 
     company is forced to make a difficult decision: either comply 
     with the demand and satisfy Federal law or risk violating the 
     privacy laws of the host country. The same is true in reverse 
     because when foreign governments compel global providers to 
     disclose information, even information about the citizens of 
     those governments, Federal law in the United States sometimes 
     prohibits the providers from complying.
       (4) Modernizing ECPA to better reflect the truly global 
     nature of global technology will--
       (A) better serve the interests of law enforcement, both in 
     the United States and abroad;
       (B) protect individual privacy; and
       (C) promote innovation and the free flow of information.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the Federal Government--
       (1) must safeguard data throughout the world from 
     unauthorized access by law enforcement agencies; and
       (2) should--
       (A) require law enforcement agencies in the United States 
     to obtain a warrant for all electronic content;
       (B) create a clear international legal framework that 
     provides law enforcement agencies with an efficient process 
     to obtain information while--
       (i) protecting the privacy of all individuals; and
       (ii) respecting the laws of other countries; and
       (C) strengthen the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty process 
     by providing greater efficiency, accessibility, transparency, 
     and accountability.
                                 ______