[House Report 109-527]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-527

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 REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO SUBMIT 
TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ALL DOCUMENTS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE 
  PRESIDENT AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL RELATING TO REQUESTS MADE BY THE 
   NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY AND OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES TO TELEPHONE 
SERVICE PROVIDERS REQUESTING ACCESS TO TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS RECORDS 
  OF PERSONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND COMMUNICATIONS ORIGINATING AND 
         TERMINATING WITHIN THE UNITED STATES WITHOUT A WARRANT

                                _______
                                

   June 23, 2006.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Sensenbrenner, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 819]

  The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 819) requesting the President and directing 
the Attorney General to submit to the House of Representatives 
all documents in the possession of the President and the 
Attorney General relating to requests made by the National 
Security Agency and other Federal agencies to telephone service 
providers requesting access to telephone communications records 
of persons in the United States and communications originating 
and terminating within the United States without a warrant, 
having considered the same, report favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommend that the resolution be agreed to.

                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    House Resolution 819, introduced by Representative Wexler 
(D-FL) on May 17, 2006, requests the President and directs the 
Attorney General to submit to the House of Representatives all 
documents, including legal opinions, in the possession of the 
President and the Attorney General relating to requests made by 
the National Security Agency (NSA) and other Federal agencies 
to telephone service providers requesting access to telephone 
communications records of persons in the United States and 
communications originating and terminating within the United 
States without a warrant, subject to necessary redactions or 
requirements for handling classified documents.

                               BACKGROUND

    House Resolution 819 is a resolution of inquiry. Under the 
rules and precedents of the House of Representatives, a 
resolution of inquiry allows the House to request information 
from the President of the United States or to direct the head 
of one of the executive departments to provide such 
information. More specifically, according to Deschler's 
Precedents, it is a ``simple resolution making a direct request 
or demand of the President or the head of an executive 
department to furnish the House of Representatives with 
specific factual information in the possession of the executive 
branch. The practice is nearly as old as the Republic, and is 
based on principles of comity between the executive and 
legislative branches rather than on any specific provision of 
the Constitution that a Federal court may be called upon to 
enforce.''\1\
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    \1\Deschler's Precedents of the House of Representatives, ch. 24, 
Sec. 8.
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    A committee has a number of choices in considering a 
resolution of inquiry. It may vote on the resolution without 
amendment, or it may amend it. It may report the resolution 
favorably, adversely, or with no recommendation. House 
Resolution 819 requests documents similar to those requested in 
House Resolutions that were reported adversely earlier this 
year. Nevertheless, the Committee reports this resolution 
favorably to emphasize to the Executive branch the importance 
of more timely and comprehensive responses to Committee 
requests. When Attorney General Gonzales testified before the 
Committee on April 6, 2006, the Chairman, Ranking Member, and 
other Members of the Committee expressed concern toward the 
Justice Department's cooperation in providing the Committee 
with sufficient information related to the Administration's 
conduct of the war on terrorism.
    More than three months after the Attorney General testified 
before the Committee, the Justice Department has failed to 
fully respond to questions asked during that hearing. This 
Committee believes that reporting H. Res. 819 favorably will 
underscore to the Administration and the Department of Justice 
that it is imperative that this Committee be provided the 
information it needs in order to conduct appropriate 
Congressional oversight over this and other Administration 
programs. Among the important information the Committee 
believes it needs in order to conduct this oversight are 
responsive answers to the requests of Mr. Wexler in H. Res. 
819, including providing ``all legal opinions, relating to 
requests made without a warrant by the National Security Agency 
or other Federal departments and agencies to telephone service 
providers . . . for access to telephone communications records 
of persons in the United States.''

                                HEARINGS

    No hearings were held in the Committee on the Judiciary on 
H. Res. 819.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    On June 21, 2006, the Committee met in open session and 
favorably reported the resolution H. Res. 819 by a voice vote, 
a quorum being present.

                         VOTE OF THE COMMITTEE

    In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee notes that there 
were no recorded votes during the Committee consideration of H. 
Res. 819.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the 
descriptive portions of this report.

               NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable because this legislation does 
not provide new budgetary authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

                        COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

    In compliance with clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee estimates the 
costs of implementing the resolution would be minimal. The 
Congressional Budget Office did not provide a cost estimate for 
the resolution.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    H. Res. 819 does not authorize funding. Therefore, clause 
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives is inapplicable.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the rule 
does not apply because H. Res. 819 is not a bill or joint 
resolution that may be enacted into law.

               SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

    The House Resolution would resolve that the President is 
requested and the Attorney General is directed to submit to the 
House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date 
of the adoption of this resolution, all documents in the 
possession of the President and the Attorney General, including 
all legal opinions, relating to requests made without a warrant 
by the NSA or other Federal departments and agencies to 
telephone service providers, including wireless telephone 
service providers, for access to telephone communications 
records of persons in the United States (other than as 
authorized under title I of the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or chapter 
119 or 121 of title 18, United States Code), subject to 
necessary redactions or requirements for handling classified 
documents.

      CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE RESOLUTION, AS REPORTED

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee notes that H. Res. 
819 makes no changes to existing law.

                                  
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