House Judiciary unveils bill to curb warrantless surveillance powers

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers on Monday introduced a bill to reauthorize the intelligence communities warrantless spy powers with new restrictions on accessing data collected on Americans and greater penalties for law enforcement who violate the law.

The bill deals with Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the intelligence community to monitor the communications of foreigners located abroad, a process which sweeps up the communications of Americans in contact with those being surveilled.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors including members of the House Judiciary Committee, is the first House proposal to be publicly released ahead of a Wednesday markup by that panel. It deviates from a still-developing House Intelligence bill with less ambitious restrictions on using American’s data.

Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), ranking member Jerold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) are among the co-sponsors.

The bill drops amid the race to sort out how to resolve the Section 702 debate ahead of its end-of-the-year expiration, which has sparked competing proposals with varying reforms as well as a debate over what vehicle should be used for reauthorizing the controversial powers.

The requirement that law enforcement entities obtain a warrant to review any information on Americans swept up in other searches has been called a red line by national security leaders and has been a top priority for privacy rights groups.

Still, the warrant requirement includes some exceptions, such as for emergency situations.

The bill otherwise includes numerous provisions included either in Senate bills or the expected House Intelligence proposal.

Like a Senate bill sponsored by privacy leaders Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah), the House Judiciary version blocks the U.S. government from buying information on citizens from data brokers.

The bill also restricts the number of FBI personnel that can conduct Section 702 searches – targeting the intelligence community agency most frequently accused of abusing its authorities.

House Judiciary is currently set to mark up the bill on Wednesday.