Bill Text: CA AJR27 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 8-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-27 - From committee without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a). [AJR27 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AJR27-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AJR 27 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 22, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Donnelly
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Allen, Grove, Harkey,
Jones, Mansoor, Olsen, and Wilk)
(Coauthor: Senator Anderson)
JULY 2, 2013
Relative to privacy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 27, as amended, Donnelly. Limiting Internet and Blanket
Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act.
This measure would urge Congress to pass and the President to sign
into law the Limiting Internet and Blanket Electronic Review of
Telecommunications and Email Act (LIBERT-E Act), and ensure that the
American people are protected from massive invasions of their
privacy.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, Representative Justin Amash, Chairman of the House
Liberty Caucus, and Representative John Conyers, Jr., the Ranking
Member on the House Judiciary Committee, announced the introduction
of bipartisan legislation to address National Security Agency (NSA)
surveillance; and
WHEREAS, House Resolution 2399, the Limiting Internet and Blanket
Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act (LIBERT-E Act),
restricts the federal government's ability under the Patriot Act to
collect information on Americans who are not connected to an ongoing
investigation. The bill also requires that secret Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court opinions be made available
to Congress and summaries of the opinions be made available to the
public; and
WHEREAS, A coalition of 32 Members of Congress joined
Representatives Conyers and Amash in introducing the bill late
Monday, June 17, 2013; and
WHEREAS, In a statement, Representatives Conyers and Amash stated:
"The recent NSA leaks indicate that the federal government collects
phone records and intercepts electronic communications on a scale
previously unknown to most Americans. The LIBERT-E Act imposes
reasonable limits on the federal government's surveillance"; and
WHEREAS, Representatives Conyers and Amash also stated: " The
LIBERT-E Act] also makes sure that innocent Americans' information
isn't needlessly swept up into a government database"; and
WHEREAS, Thirty-two Representatives from both sides of the aisle
cosponsored the LIBERT-E Act; and
WHEREAS, Representative Judy Chu of California stated: "Oversight
conducted in secret defeats its purpose. Congress should be able to
have an open dialogue with the American people on how our
surveillance programs impact individual privacy. That's why I support
the release of unclassified reports by the Administration on how
FISA powers are used. We must protect our national security
operations, but we need to strike a balance between clandestine
efforts and transparency in our society"; and
WHEREAS, Representative Barbara Lee of California stated: "The
right to privacy in this country in non-negotiable. While I believe
that national security is essential, we must protect our most basic
civil liberties and move forward in a way that does not sacrifice our
American values and freedoms. I'm proud to be an original co-sponsor
of this bill, which ensures that we keep a better balance between
our privacy and our national security by limiting the scope of
records that can be handed over and by re-establishing and
strengthening Congress' vital role of accountability and oversight of
this issue"; and
WHEREAS, Representative Zoe Lofgren of California stated:
"Increasingly it seems surveillance laws are used in ways that do not
always respect Americans' Constitutional rights for privacy or
provide adequate transparency to ensure the government is acting
appropriately. The revelations that these laws that should be
targeting threats to our country have also been quietly used to
collect millions of Americans' personal information justifies the
public's apprehension about government abuse of surveillance powers.
The LIBERT-E Act raises the standards needed to obtain personal
information in national security investigations, prevents dragnets,
and requires greater transparency on how agencies are using the
surveillance powers Congress grants them"; and
WHEREAS, Representative Tom McClintock, also of California,
stated: "A free society does not depend on a police state that tracks
the behavior of every citizen for its security. A free society
depends instead on principles of law that protect liberty while
meting out stern punishment to those who abuse it"; and
WHEREAS, The LIBERT-E Act enjoys bipartisan efforts from hundreds
of groups like such as the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the
Republican Liberty Caucus urging constituents to demand support from
their representatives; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges Congress to pass and
the President to sign into law the Limiting Internet and Blanket
Electronic Review of Telecommunications and Email Act, and ensure
that the American people are protected from massive invasions of
their privacy; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, to the Majority
Leader of the Senate, to the Minority Leader of the Senate, and to
each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of
the United States, and to the author for appropriate distribution.
