Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act

Summary · Congressional Research Service (nonpartisan)

This bill reauthorizes Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for five years and makes changes to FISA, including certain restrictions on surveillance under Section 702. (Sec. 702 concerns electronic surveillance of non-U.S. persons believed to be outside the United States to obtain foreign intelligence information. Information about U.S. persons may incidentally be acquired by this type of surveillance and subsequently searched or "queried" under certain circumstances.) The bill places statutory limits on querying the contents of information collected under Section 702, including prohibiting Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel from making U.S. person queries without prior approval by certain FBI supervisors or attorneys unless the query might mitigate or eliminate a threat to life or serious bodily harm; requiring the FBI Deputy Director to approve certain politically sensitive query terms (such as those that identify certain elected and appointed officials); prohibiting the involvement of political appointees in the approval process for such politically sensitive query requests; and requiring the FBI Director to establish consequences for noncompliant querying of U.S. person terms, including zero tolerance for willful misconduct. Other provisions include requiring applications for a surveillance order under FISA to be supported by sworn statements and limiting the use of information in such applications derived from political organizations or media sources, increasing criminal penalties related to FISA, and requiring adverse consequences (e.g., suspension without pay or removal) for government officers and employees who engage in intentional misconduct with respect to proceedings before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.