110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 139
To expedite review by the Supreme Court of the warrantless electronic
surveillance program of the National Security Agency.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 4, 2007
Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To expedite review by the Supreme Court of the warrantless electronic
surveillance program of the National Security Agency.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Foreign Surveillance Expedited Review Act'.
SEC. 2. STANDING FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR PERSONS WHO
REFRAIN FROM ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS BY REASON OF FEAR OF WARRANTLESS
ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE.
(a) Standing- A United States citizen who has refrained or is refraining
from wire communications because of a reasonable fear that such communications
will be the subject of electronic surveillance conducted without an order
issued in accordance with title I of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) under a claim of Presidential authority
under either the Constitution of the United States or the Authorization
for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40; 115 Stat. 224; 50 U.S.C. 1541
note) shall have standing to file a petition for declaratory or injunctive
relief with respect to such warrantless electronic surveillance.
(b) Rules Applicable to Actions- In any action for declaratory or injunctive
relief under subsection (a), the following shall apply:
(1) The action shall be filed in the United States District Court for
the District of Columbia and shall be heard by a 3-judge court convened
pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, United States Code.
(2) A copy of the complaint shall be delivered promptly to the Attorney
General, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, and the Secretary
of the Senate.
(3) A reasonable fear shall be established by evidence that the person
bringing the action--
(A) has and will continue to have regular wire communications from the
United States to one or more persons in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan,
or any country designated as a state sponsor of terrorism in the course
of that person's paid employment doing journalistic, academic, or other
research pertaining to terrorism or terrorist groups; or
(B) has engaged and will continue to engage in one or more commercial
transactions with a bank or other financial institution in a country
described in subparagraph (A).
(4) The procedures and standards of the Classified Information Procedures
Act (18 U.S.C. App.) shall apply to the action.
(5) A final decision in the action shall be reviewable only by appeal
directly to the Supreme Court of the United States. Such appeal shall
be taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 days, and the filing
of a jurisdictional statement within 30 days, of the entry of the final
decision.
(6) It shall be the duty of the United States District Court for the District
of Columbia and the Supreme Court of the United States to advance on the
docket and to expedite to the greatest possible extent the disposition
of the action and appeal.
(c) Definitions- In this section, the terms `electronic surveillance' and
`wire communication' have the meaning given such terms in section 101 of
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801).
END
