Ending Secret Law Act

Summary

Ending Secret Law Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that each decision, order, or opinion ("decision," for purposes of this Act) issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review that includes significant construction or interpretation of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) provisions concerning access to business records and the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information should be declassified in a manner consistent with the protection of national security, intelligence sources and methods, and other properly classified and sensitive information. Amends FISA provisions concerning access to business records and the targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States to require the Attorney General, with exceptions, to declassify and make publicly available decisions concerning certain surveillance orders required for inclusion in a semiannual report to Congress. Requires release to the public of unclassified summaries and reports if the Attorney General determines that a decision may not be declassified. Requires the Attorney General, in cases in which an unclassified summary may not be made available, to make publicly available an unclassified report on the status of the internal deliberations and process regarding the declassification by executive branch personnel of such decisions, including estimates of the number of decisions that will be declassified or remain classified.

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Timeline

1. 11 June 2013

   Introduced

   Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

   Source: IntroReferral

2. 11 June 2013

   Introduced

   Introduced in Senate

   Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

• Introduced in Senate · 11 June 2013 · Official file

Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 11 June 2013

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 11 June 2013

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 11 June 2013

  Open at official source

Sponsors

• Jeff Merkley · D · Sponsor
• Mike Lee · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV] · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN] · D · Sponsor
• Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · D · Sponsor
• Ron Wyden · D · Sponsor
• Richard Blumenthal · D · Sponsor
• Rand Paul · R · Sponsor
• Sen. Udall, Mark [D-CO] · D · Cosponsor
• Rep. Baucus, Max [D-MT-1] · D · Cosponsor
• Jeanne Shaheen · D · Cosponsor
• Patty Murray · D · Cosponsor
• Richard Durbin · D · Cosponsor
• Charles Schumer · D · Cosponsor
• · ssju00 · Standing

Related records

• related to → FISA Court in the Sunshine Act of 2013
• related to → Ending Secret Law Act