USA Freedom Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this time, and I thank the ranking member and the chairman for this work.

I also thank Mr. Sensenbrenner, who we have worked with from the first stages of the PATRIOT Act, when the Judiciary Committee passed it out on a bipartisan basis after that terrible and heinous act of terror. Unfortunately, it was changed.

Today, I want to announce that megadata collection as we know it has ended. That is a major tribute to the American people, and the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee heard them.

More importantly, the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee stand united. Can we do more? Should there have been an open rule or a number of other amendments that Members wanted? Yes. I believe in participatory democracy.

Today, we end bulk collection under the PATRIOT Act section 215. We can always do better. Today, we prevent the bulk collection under FISA pen register and National Security Letter authorities and vow to the American people that we increase the transparency.

Let me make it very clear, when we first discussed and debated the PATRIOT Act, reverse targeting, to me, was heinous. It means that it captured an innocent American person as we were looking for someone who happened to be a terrorist.

Today, in this bill, we have any communications as to which the sender and all intended recipients are determined to be located in the United States and prohibit the use of any discrete, nontarget communication that is determined to be to or from a United States person or a person who appears to be located in the United States, except to protect against an immediate threat to harm. It is eliminated. Reverse targeting is no longer.

In addition, I introduced a bill some time ago called the FISA Court and Sunshine Act of 2013. In that bill, it required the Attorney General to disclose each decision, order, or opinion of the FISA Court, allowing Americans to know how broad of a legal authority the government is claiming under the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to conduct surveillance needed to keep Americans safe.

I am pleased that, in section 402 and 604 of the USA FREEDOM Act, it requires the Attorney General to conduct a declassification review of each decision, order, or opinion. It opens it up to the American people. That includes a significant construction of interpretation of the law and to submit to Congress within 45 days.

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