Coats Amendment to Create an Independent Inspector General Position at the NSA Clears Intel Committee

Press Release

Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, today successfully included his amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Improvements Act that calls for the position of Inspector General (IG) at the National Security Agency (NSA) to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

"I am pleased the Senate Intelligence Committee included my amendment to establish a presidentially appointed, Senate confirmable inspector general at the NSA," said Coats. "My amendment will ensure Congress and the American people have a reliable, independent oversight partner within the NSA that can only be hired and fired by the president and Congress rather than the head of the agency he or she overseas."

"The trust of the American people is paramount in our efforts to defend and protect the country from terrorist attacks," added Coats. "A series of leaks diminished the public's trust in the NSA and the intelligence community that must be repaired through greater transparency and even stronger oversight. My amendment will ensure the agency's contributions to our counter-terrorism efforts are met with adequate attention for the privacy and civil liberties of innocent Americans."

The current IG at the NSA is appointed by the director of NSA, creating the perception that the position is not independent. While there is no evidence the current IG is beholden to the director of the NSA, or overlooked abuse in any way, the Coats amendment would strengthen oversight and improve transparency. Additionally, the amendment will help restore the public's current distrust of the NSA by establishing an independent actor that can initiate investigations and report to Congress on problems and disputes within NSA. The new, independent IG would take office when the current IG leaves or a new director of the NSA takes office, whichever comes first.

The Coats amendment is cosponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)

The FISA Improvements Act, which passed the committee with bipartisan support, institutes common sense reforms in wake of public revelations about the use of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act and Section 702 of FISA. The FISA Improvements Act includes a number of provisions to expressly prohibit the collection of content, mandate judicial review, limit the retention of data and codify legal standards and safeguards to protect the privacy of Americans.

Specifically, the FISA Improvements Act:

Adds new provisions to Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act, including a prohibition on the collection of content, judicial review every 90 days, security procedures for and limits on the retention of data, restrictions on the number of analysts who can access the data, and a written record to justify use of the data, including the name of the analyst conducting the query, to deter abuse.
Requires additional reporting to both Congress and the public concerning the use of Section 215, including reporting on the number of targets and queries, as well as investigative leads and probable cause orders initiated as a result of the data.
Establishes criminal penalties for unauthorized access to databases containing FISA-derived information.
Authorizes the appointment of amicus curiae to assist the FISA Court in consideration of applications.
Prohibits queries under Section 702 that do not target foreign intelligence information and requires the government to document all queries using a U.S. person's selector and provide that documentation to the U.S. Department of Justice, appropriate inspectors general, the FISA Court and Congress.
Requires Senate confirmation for the appointment of the Director of the NSA.
Requires the Director of National Intelligence to report to the congressional intelligence committees any violations of law or executive order.
Mandates that each head of an element of the intelligence community conduct a review of Attorney General-approved procedures for minimizing the impact of intelligence collection on privacy and civil liberties of U.S. persons.
The FISA Reform bill passed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and will head to the full Senate for consideration.

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