Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006
Latest action. Read the second time. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 635.
Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006 - Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to establish a new title relating to electronic surveillance programs (programs). Gives the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (established under FISA) jurisdiction to review programs that seek to obtain foreign intelligence information or to protect against international terrorism. Allows the Court to issue an order that authorizes a program for up to 90 days, while allowing the Attorney General (AG) an unlimited number of times to seek reauthorization of an order with respect to a specific target.
Outlines AG application requirements for approval of programs, including an explanation of how the program will ensure that communications acquired are of or with: (1) a foreign power, or agent of a foreign power, engaged in international terrorism; (2) a person believed to have communicated with or be associated with a foreign power or agent that engages in such activities; or (3) a foreign power or agent that poses an imminent threat of attack likely to cause death, serious bodily injury, or substantial economic damage to the United States.
Provides for congressional oversight of approved programs through regular AG reports to the congressional intelligence committees.
Directs the AG and the Director of National Intelligence to conduct a feasibility study to develop and implement a document management system that permits the prompt preparation, modification, and review of applications for orders approving programs by appropriate personnel of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA), and other applicable elements of the intelligence community.
Includes as an "agent of a foreign power" under FISA a person other than a U.S. person who engages in the development or proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or activities in preparation therefor.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on September 22, 2006. 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 September 25, 2006: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 635.
- 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 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 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?
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced it on September 22, 2006, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Republicans.
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 September 22, 2006, 7293 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7290 days ago, on September 25, 2006.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 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