Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C.
civil liberties of U.S. citizens at home and abroad.
The House has done the right thing and extended these important tools before they expire. I urge the Senate to act now to ensure that our intelligence capabilities will not be dismantled and our nation not put in danger."
Cong. Lamar Smith (R-TX.) House Judiciary Committee Chairman managed the debate on the House floor & successfully urged his colleagues to reauthorize the FISA Amendments Act.
H.R. 5949 extends the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 for five years. The bill passed by a vote of 301-118. Texas Congressman Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio) Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee managed House Floor debate. Said Smith:Our national security agencies operate around the clock to protect America from unfriendly foreign nations terrorist groups and spies. But in order to keep America safe we must be able to conduct surveillance of foreign terrorists and intelligence organizations. The information we gather ensures that we can stop terrorists before they are able to carry out attacks against our infrastructure or innocent Americans.Background: In 1978 Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to provide procedures for the domestic collection of foreign intelligence. The law
established the FISA court system and required court approval for information collected domestically.
It was never intended to apply to non-U.S. persons living or operating in foreign countries. But technological advances over the last 40 years changed how overseas communications are transmitted.
These advances led to changes in how FISA was interpreted. Suddenly the law was being applied to foreign targets located outside the U.S. which was never the intent.
In 2006 then-Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell stated that the Intelligence Community was not collecting approximately two-thirds of the foreign intelligence information that it had collected prior to the change in the interpretation of the law.
In 2008 Congress enacted the FISA Amendments Act to establish procedures for gathering intelligence on foreign targets (non-U.S. citizens) located outside the U.S. The law clarified that an individual court order is not needed to conduct surveillance on a foreign target outside the U.S.
The FISA Amendments Act also expanded civil liberties protections for Americans living or traveling abroad.
The Act requires an individual FISA court order for any surveillance on a U.S. citizen overseas and requires annual certification by the FISA-court for all foreign surveillance under FISA.
