REP LIEU INTRODUCES BILL TO ESTABLISH FISA OVERSIGHT OFFICE WITHIN THE DOJ
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) introduced the Protecting Americans from Undue Surveillance Act, which would establish an oversight office within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The FISA Oversight Office would evaluate each application made by the federal government to surveil a U.S. citizen to ensure that the standard of probable cause is met. Currently, FISA Court applications are approved on an overwhelming basis. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court denied full or in part only 23 out of 358 applications in 2022. Rep. Lieu’s bill would provide an additional layer of oversight to ensure that all the U.S. government’s requests to surveil U.S. citizens are lawful, warranted, and necessary.
“I’m pleased to introduce a bill today to help ensure due process when it comes to efforts by the federal government to surveil U.S. citizens. Through the establishment of a FISA Oversight Office, an officer would be assigned to each individual case and that person would have access to all available evidence pertaining to the investigation into a U.S. citizen. This would create additional protections for citizens and prevent unnecessary government overreach. My bill also contains important reporting requirements that would infuse an appropriate level of transparency into this highly secretive process.”