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U.S. CONST. Amend. IV provides:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Order Code RS21472
Updated May 19, 2003
Proposed Change to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) under S. 113
Jennifer Elsea
Legislative Attorney
American Law Division
Summary
The Senate recently passed S. 113, a bill in the 108
th
Congress to extend the
coverage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) to non-United States
persons who engage in international terrorism or activities in preparation for
international terrorism, without a showing of membership in or affiliation with an
international terrorist group. FISA provides a means by which the government can
obtain approval to conduct electronic surveillance (wiretap) and other searches with
respect to a foreign power or its agents in order to obtain intelligence related to
espionage, terrorism, or other matters involving national security.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), P.L. 95-511, Title I, Oct. 25,
1978, 92 Stat. 1796, codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq., provides a framework for the
use of electronic surveillance and other investigative methods to acquire foreign
intelligence information. This measure seeks to strike a balance between national security
needs in the context of foreign intelligence gathering and privacy rights guaranteed by the
Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
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FISA provides a means by which the
government can obtain approval to conduct searches and surveillance of a foreign power
or its agents without first meeting the more stringent standard in Title III of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq. [hereinafter “Title III”] that
applies to criminal investigations. While Title III requires a showing of probable cause
that a proposed target has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, FISA
requires a showing of probable cause to believe that the target is a foreign power or an
agent of a foreign power.
