Rokita Coauthors Major Bipartisan Intelligence Reforms - Rokita-Smith Ending Secret Law Act Included in Reform Legislation

Press Release

Rep. Todd Rokita joined a bipartisan group of Senate and House members to introduce the USA Freedom Act -- legislation that restores Americans' privacy rights by ending the government's bulk collection of phone records and requiring greater oversight, transparency, and accountability with respect to domestic surveillance authorities.

"I am proud to co-author this legislation because it is clear that our national intelligence services have made serious mistakes and have violated the Constitutional rights of millions of Americans.

The only solution to these on-going violations is for Congress to step forward with new laws that clearly protect our rights and provide real oversight, appropriate transparency and the due process all Americans are guaranteed under our Constitution.

Including my legislation, the Ending Secret Law Act, means that our federal government will finally be required to disclose to us the legal cases and reasoning behind so many intelligence and surveillance decisions," said Rokita.

Additional National Security Legislation by Rokita
This September, Rokita introduced legislation to establish a Select Committee to investigate and report on the surveillance operations of the National Security Administration.

Also this year, Rokita, along with Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), introduced the Ending Secret Law Act, to require declassification of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) decisions.

About the USA Freedom Act
The USA Freedom Act includes elements of the Ending Secret Law Act and makes reforms to end the dragnet collection of Americans' phone records under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and ensure that other authorities cannot be used to justify similar dragnet collection. The bill also provides more safeguards for warrantless surveillance under the FISA Amendments Act.

The bill includes other significant privacy and oversight provisions, provides for the creation of a Special Advocate to focus on the protection of privacy rights and civil liberties before the FISA Court, and requires more detailed public reporting about the numbers and types of FISA orders that are issued.

The bill has 16 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate and has more than 70 bipartisan cosponsors in the House and enjoys the diverse support of groups ranging from the National Rifle Association to the American Civil Liberties Union.

An op-ed on the bill by lead authors Senator Leahy (D-VT) and Representative Sensenbrenner (R-WI)'s joint op-ed on the USA FREEDOM Act, which Tuesday appeared in Politico, can be viewed here. An outline of the legislation can be found here, and text of legislation can be found online.

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