The SAFE Act. Couteracting the Patriot Act.

[coloradodem2005]

I did some investigation and I found something you people should find interesting. I first found out about the existance of this proposal on Ken Salazar's website. Finding a brief outline of the act here are some of the things I found.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON ROVING WIRETAPS UNDER FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978.

Section 105(c) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1805(c)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting before the semicolon the following: `, however, if the identity is unknown, the facilities and places shall be specified'; and

(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting before the semicolon the following: `, however, if any of the facilities or places are unknown, the identity of the target shall be specified'; and

(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting before the semicolon the following: `, and, in cases where the facility or place at which the surveillance is to be directed is not known at the time the order is issued, that the surveillance be conducted only when the presence of the target at a particular facility or place has been ascertained by the person conducting the surveillance'.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO DELAY NOTICE OF SEARCH WARRANTS.

Section 3103a of title 18, United States Code, is amended--

(1) in subsection (b)--

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking `may have an adverse result (as defined in section 2705)' and inserting `will endanger the life or physical safety of an individual, result in flight from prosecution, or result in the destruction of or tampering with the evidence sought under the warrant'; and

(B) in paragraph (3), by striking `a reasonable period' and all that follows and inserting `seven calendar days, which period, upon application of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, or an Associate Attorney General, may thereafter be extended by the court for additional periods of up to seven calendar days each if the court finds, for each application, reasonable cause to believe that notice of the execution of the warrant will endanger the life or physical safety of an individual, result in flight from prosecution, or result in the destruction of or tampering with the evidence sought under the warrant.'; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:

`(c) REPORTS- (1) On a semiannual basis, the Attorney General shall transmit to Congress and make public a report concerning all requests for delays of notice, and for extensions of delays of notice, with respect to warrants under subsection (b).

`(2) Each report under paragraph (1) shall include, with respect to the preceding six-month period--

`(A) the total number of requests for delays of notice with respect to warrants under subsection (b);

`(B) the total number of such requests granted or denied; and

`(C) for each request for delayed notice that was granted, the total number of applications for extensions of the delay of notice and the total number of such extensions granted or denied.'.

SEC. 4. PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR LIBRARY, BOOKSELLER, AND OTHER PERSONAL RECORDS UNDER FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978.

(a) APPLICATIONS FOR ORDERS- Subsection (b) of section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking `and' at the end;

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting `; and'; and

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(3) shall specify that there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the person to whom the records pertain is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power.'.

(b) ORDERS- Subsection (c)(1) of that section is amended by striking `finds' and all that follows and inserting `finds that--

`(A) there are specific and articulable facts giving reason to believe that the person to whom the records pertain is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power; and

`(B) the application meets the other requirements of this section.'.

(c) OVERSIGHT OF REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION OF RECORDS- Section 502 of that Act (50 U.S.C. 1862) is amended--

(1) in subsection (a), by striking `the Permanent' and all that follows through `the Senate' and inserting `the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate'; and

(2) in subsection (b), by striking `On a semiannual basis,' and all that follows through `a report setting forth' and inserting `The report of the Attorney General to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate under subsection (a) shall set forth'.

You shall find this in its entirety on this website.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:42:./temp/~c108auGG0F::