Senate Approves Bill to Strengthen Privacy in FBI Searches Under FISA

The Senate passed a bill to tighten the rules on how the FBI can search Americans' information under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, aiming to better protect citizens' privacy by demanding higher-level approvals and more justification for searches, especially those involving U.S. public figures, religious, or media organizations.

This is a law that changes how the U.S. government can watch or listen to people. The main point is it makes sure the government has to follow stricter rules before it can check what U.S. citizens are doing. Here are the details:

  • Only certain FBI bosses or lawyers can approve checking on U.S. citizens, except in emergencies where there's danger to someone's life.
  • Politically appointed FBI leaders are not allowed to okay these checks.
  • The FBI must review these checks regularly, especially for U.S. citizens, to make sure they are doing it right. This rule stops in 2 years unless the FBI proves it can check itself well.
  • FBI workers need special training every year before they can do these checks.
  • FBI has to get extra approval from higher-ups before checking on U.S. politicians, religious groups, or news organizations.
  • Before an FBI person can check on a U.S. citizen, they must write down why it’s necessary.
  • Any information the FBI gets from listening or watching must be stored carefully, so it doesn’t get mixed up with other information by mistake.
  • Some parts of this rule can be skipped if a special court agrees that there are other ways to protect people's privacy.
  • If the FBI checks on a member of Congress, they have to tell the leaders of Congress and the person they checked on.
94 votes
Yes60
No34
Not Voting6
Apr 19, 2024, 11:45 PM (Washington D.C.)
0
  1. Signed by President.
  2. Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  3. Presented to President.
  4. Became Public Law No: 118-49.
  5. Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate, under the order of 4/19/2024, having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 60 - 34. Record Vote Number: 150.
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  6. Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (CR S2907)
  7. Passed Senate, under the order of 4/19/2024, having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, without amendment by Yea-Nay Vote. 60 - 34. Record Vote Number: 150.
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  8. Measure laid before Senate by motion. (consideration: CR S2921-2928)
  9. Motion to proceed to consideration of measure agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 62 - 30. Record Vote Number: 143.
  10. Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (CR S2833)
  11. Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure invoked in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 67 - 32. Record Vote Number: 141. (CR S2838)
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  12. Motion to proceed to measure considered in Senate. (CR S2797)
  13. Motion to proceed to consideration of measure made in Senate. (CR S2762)
  14. Cloture motion on the motion to proceed to the measure presented in Senate. (CR S2762)
  15. Motion to reconsider laid on the table.

  16. Placed on Calendar Senate

    Take your time. Do it right. Look into these two files, file-id:file-NGwrgge9yln3FduchOxFzbTV and file-id:file-hfD2IkjigbPsp5JJWSFTld7e . The first file-id is the current one, the second file-id is the previous one. Tell me ALL the changes in the current one in comparision to the previous one. Please be THOROUGH. And make sure your answer can be easily understood by mid-schoolers. Pay attention to the change of the changes of numbers, espeically if it's about money, in the mentioned files. Only output the changes.

    { Be stright forward. For example, DO NOT say the first file or the second file. Instead, just describ the changes directly. For example: DO NOT say They change the word 'should' to 'must' , instead say the word 'should' changed to 'must'. }

    DO NOT mention the file-id in anyway.

  17. Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 365.
  18. Received in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time. (Legislative Day April 10, 2024).

  19. Engrossed in House

    In the current reform, the following changes are made compared to the previous reform:

    1. Under the section that requires audits of United States person queries conducted by the FBI, the sunset (end) provision was altered. Previously, it stated that the section would end 4 years after the enactment of the Act or when the Attorney General certifies the FBI has an internal audit process. It now ends 2 years after enactment or upon similar certification.

    All other details, including how FBI personnel conduct queries, the need for prior approval, prohibitions on involving political appointees in approval processes, mandatory audits, restrictions on querying procedures, training requirements, approvals for sensitive queries, requirements for written justifications, storage configurations to prevent inadvertent queries, and notification requirements for queries related to members of Congress remain consistent between the two documents without mention of changes in numbers, especially regarding money.

  20. Introduced in House

    Take your time. Do it right. Look into these two files, file-id:file-4j3LOMXyqT5wBxm9XqvC7rzj and file-id:file-sC94c3eng8j4pbPPW5tpZrTw . The first file-id is the current one, the second file-id is the previous one. Tell me ALL the changes in the current one in comparision to the previous one. Please be THOROUGH. And make sure your answer can be easily understood by mid-schoolers. Pay attention to the change of the changes of numbers, espeically if it's about money, in the mentioned files. Only output the changes.

    { Be stright forward. For example, DO NOT say the first file or the second file. Instead, just describ the changes directly. For example: DO NOT say They change the word 'should' to 'must' , instead say the word 'should' changed to 'must'. }

    DO NOT mention the file-id in anyway.

  21. Enrolled Bill

    This is a law called the "Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act" that changes how the FBI and others can watch or listen to U.S. citizens without their knowing. Firstly, it makes it harder for FBI workers to search private information or conversations with U.S. citizens without getting permission from higher-up FBI staff or lawyers who are allowed to see such sensitive info. However, if an FBI worker believes checking this info could prevent someone from getting hurt or killed, they don't need to get permission first.

    Also, the law says that political figures, like those appointed by the president or elected officials, cannot be involved in deciding whether the FBI can do these searches. This is to keep politics out of these serious decisions.

    Every time the FBI conducts one of these searches, the Justice Department must check it within 180 days to make sure it was okay. This checking process will stop either 2 years after the law is passed or as soon as the Attorney General tells Congress that the FBI is doing its own checking well.

    For certain sensitive searches, especially those involving elected officials, religious groups, or media organizations, the FBI needs extra permissions. For example, to search information about a U.S. senator or a famous journalist, the FBI would need a very high-level approval or a lawyer's OK.

    When the FBI wants to use a U.S. citizen's name or personal info to search through their private conversations or data, the officer must write down specific reasons why they think it's necessary. Also, any system the FBI uses to keep these private conversations cannot mix them up with other data, to prevent accidental searches.

    If the FBI ever does a search using a Congress member's name, the FBI Director must quickly tell the leaders of Congress about it and also inform the Congress member who was searched.

    By imposing these rules, the law is trying to make sure that the government respects the privacy of its citizens while also keeping the country safe.