A bill to require the Attorney General to establish minimization and destruction procedures governing the acquisition, retention, and dissemination by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of certain records.
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Directs the Attorney General (AG) to establish minimization and destruction procedures governing the acquisition, retention, and dissemination of any records received by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): (1) in response to a national security letter issued under specified provisions of the federal criminal code authorizing FBI requests for telephone toll and transactional records for counterintelligence purposes, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978, or the National Security Act of 1947; or (2) pursuant to provisions authorizing FBI requests for orders from designated judges requiring production of business records and other tangible things in investigations related to foreign intelligence and international terrorism, and requiring the AG to inform Congress of such requests, under title V of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).
Defines "minimization and destruction procedures" as: (1) specific procedures reasonably designed in light of the purpose and technique of a national security letter or a request for tangible things for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information, as appropriate, to minimize the acquisition and retention, and prohibit the dissemination, of nonpublicly available information concerning unconsenting U.S. persons consistent with the need of the United States to obtain, produce, and disseminate foreign intelligence information, including procedures to ensure that information obtained outside the scope of such letter or request, is returned or destroyed; (2) procedures requiring that nonpublicly available information, which is not foreign intelligence information (as defined in specified FISA provisions) shall not be disseminated in a manner that identifies, without consent, any U.S. person, unless such person's identity is necessary to understand foreign intelligence information or assess its importance; and (3) notwithstanding the first two procedures, procedures allowing retention and dissemination of information that is evidence of a crime which has been, is being, or is about to be committed and that is to be retained or disseminated for law enforcement purposes.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on May 25, 2011. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 25, 2011: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 112th Congress (2011-12), 283 of the 10,618 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced it on May 25, 2011. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 25, 2011, 5587 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 5587 days ago, on May 25, 2011.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 112th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2013 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers