| Executive Session |
May 7, 2013 |
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Charles Grassley, R-IA
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"These national security issues are already polarizing—just look to any debate in Congress on FISA or the PATRIOT Act. Adding partisan fueled reports to the fire would only exacerbate these difficult matters."
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| Cyber Intelligence Sharing For Protection Act |
April 18, 2013 |
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Rush Holt, D-NJ
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"This bill contains the key phrase “Notwithstanding any other provision of law …”. What does that mean? It means that notwithstanding even the limited privacy protections in the PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act, this bill would give businesses the ability to share the public’s private data among themselves and the government by invoking the phrase “cyber threat”. It means that notwithstanding the privacy protections in HIPAA, businesses can share personal medical information with each other and the government if there is a “cyber threat”. And the definition of cyber threat is so nebulous, so sweeping that it can be invoked for almost anything that simply look unusual or is not immediately explainable."
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| Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions |
March 19, 2013 |
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Patrick Leahy, D-VT
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"In addition, the bill makes clear that the government may also continue to use administrative, civil discovery and grand jury subpoena to obtain corporate email and other electronic communications directly from a corporate entity, when those communications are contained on an internal email system. Lastly, the bill also provides that the search warrant requirement in the bill does not apply to other Federal criminal or national security laws, including Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1986, commonly known as the Wiretap Act, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, 50 U.S.C. Sec. 1801, et seq., commonly known as FISA."
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| Unanimous Consent Request—Executive Calendar |
March 6, 2013 |
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John Thune, R-SD
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"Would it not be appropriate to require a judge or court to review every case before the individual in question is added to a targeting list? Please describe the due process requirements in place for those individuals being considered for addition to a targeting list. Would you agree it is paradoxical that the Federal Government would need to go before a judge to authorize a wiretap on U.S. citizens overseas but possibly not to order a lethal drone strike against the same individual? If not, please explain why you believe something similar to the FISA standard should not be applied in regard to lethal actions against citizens of the United States."
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| Tribute To L. Christine Healey |
February 25, 2013 |
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Dianne Feinstein, D-CA
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"As committee counsel and general counsel over the past 8 years, Chris has been instrumental in the debating and drafting of every significant piece of intelligence legislation passed, and in some cases not passed, over the past decade. She was the principal drafter of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which is among the most complex pieces of legislation recently enacted, and certainly one of the most important to the security of our Nation. She has been as responsible as anyone for the passage of a string of four annual intelligence authorization bills, including the fiscal year 2013 act that was completed in December."
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