Providing For Further Consideration Of The Bill Hr 3773 To Amend The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Report Report 110 449 Us Congress 110th Congress 1st Session PDF Download

On November 15, 2007, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3773, the RESTORE Act of 2007. On October 26, 2007, Senator Rockefeller reported S. 2248, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2007 or the FISA Amendment Act of 2007, an original bill, from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. On November 16, 2007, S. 2248 was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by Senator Leahy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. On December 17, 2007, the Senate considered a motion to proceed with consideration of S. 2248. Cloture on the motion to proceed was invoked by a vote of 76-10, Record Vote Number 435. After some debate in the closing hours before the Senate broke for the holidays, a decision was made to revisit the measure when the Members returned in January. Senate floor activities on S. 2248 resumed on January 23 and 24, 2008. A modified version of the Senate Judiciary Committee's amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 2248 was tabled. Senator Reid sought unanimous consent for consideration of the House-passed bill, H.R. 3773, but Senator McConnell objected. Senator Rockefeller, for himself and Senator Bond, proposed an amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 2248 (S.Amdt. 3911). A cloture motion by Senator McConnell on this amendment did not pass. On January 29, 2008, both the House and the Senate passed H.R. 5104, a 15-day extension to the sunset for the Protect America Act, to allow further time to consider, pass, and go to conference on proposed legislation to amend FISA, while ensuring that the intelligence community would have the authority it needed in the intervening period. Pursuant to an agreement and order of January 31, 2008, S.Amdts. 3909, as modified, 3932, as modified, 3960, as modified, and S. 3945 were agreed to, while other amendments were scheduled for floor debate. In the ensuing floor consideration to date, S.Amdt. 3941 was agreed to, while S.Amdts. 3913 and 3915 failed to pass on February 7, 2008. S.Amdt. 3930 fell short of the requisite 60 votes and was withdrawn on February 6, 2008. Still pending are S.Amdts. 3938, as modified, 3911, 3907, 3927, 3919, 3920, and 3910. Floor debate is anticipated to continue early next week, with additional votes expected on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. H.R. 3773, S. 2248, and the Senate Judiciary Committee's amendment in the nature of a substitute to S. 2248 each includes amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This report provides a side by side comparison of the provisions of these three measures. A glossary of FISA terms from section 101 of FISA, 50 U.S.C. § 1801 is attached. Other FISA bills have also been introduced, such as S. 2440, S. 2441, and S. 2402. These bills are not included in this side-byside comparison.