Transcripts For CSPAN Hearing On USA Freedom Act Reauthoriza

CSPAN Hearing On USA Freedom Act Reauthorization July 13, 2024

Reauthorizing the freedom act of 2015. Two panels, basically for parts of the act. Im of the panels to tell us the good, the bad, the ugly, why we need these four tools, why we need to reauthorize the program in your view, what happens if we dont, would you accept any changes . What with those changes be . Im very interested in hearing from the National Security perspective how the usa freedom act of 2015 is still relevant in 2019 and beyond, and the tools available to Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community provided by this act, how they are relevant to the fight we are still in, baghdadi is dead, but the cause lives or the effort to penetrate our countrys ongoing every day. Terrorist groups of different names are trying to come here to do us harm and to americans abroad. The war is far from over. No air force to shoot down, no navy to sink, no capital to conquer. This is an ideology that must be combated and those that embrace this ideology embrace death. The only way you protect america is to hit them before they hit you. Stop them over there before they get here. Find out what they are up to using acceptable tools within our constitutional democracy. With that i will turn it to senator feinstein. I will try not to be redundant. This hearing, i think is important, because it provides an opportunity to look at provisions of the usa freedom act set to expire at the end of this year, on december 15. These are section 215, otherwise known as the Business Record set provision, as well as roving wiretap authority and lone wolf provision. This committee played a key role in establishing and modifying these authorities. I think it is important that we way in from time to time on any legislative changes that might be needed. I want to focus a few remarks on section 215, which allows the government to require a thirdparty, such as phone companies, to produce Business Records. 215 was previously used by the National Security agency to conceal hundreds of millions of domestic phone records. Congress prohibited this bulk collection and the 2015 usa freedom act, introduced by senators lahey and lee. Now, and set up bulk collection by the government, records remain with phone providers and are searchable only with a pfizer order for a specific selection term, generally a specific phone number or address. This call detail record which we call a cdr, is meant to ensure that surveillance is sufficiently targeted. In june of 2018 nsa publicly announced that due to technical irregularities, the cdr program had received data that it was not legally authorized to receive. Moreover, the agency could no longer distinguish between records that were obtained lawfully and those that were obtained unlawfully. As a result, nsa announced it would delete all call detail records acquired over the last three years. In august, the director of National Intelligence, dan coats , confirmed that nsa had suspended the cdr program indefinitely, due to its lack of intelligence value, as well as. Ost and compliance issues despite this, the administration is asking congress to permanently authorize this program. Why anot clear to me program with limited intelligence value and clear compliance problems should be reauthorized. Unless there is good reason to do not that it should, i believe we should reauthorize it. Thank you very much. Deputy assistant attorney general master michael orlando, Deputy Assistant director for the Counter Terrorism division, susan morgan from the National Security agency. Chairman graham, writing member feinstein, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify about important provisions of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. These authorities will expire unless reauthorized by congress. The Administration Supports permanent reauthorization of these provisions. Three of the authorities, roving wiretap, Business Records and lone wolf provisions have been over a fisa for well decade. Most recently the usa freedom act of 2015. But before that these authorities were reauthorize multiple times between 2005 and 2011 and each renewal gained bipartisan support. Today i will give you a brief overview of three of the legal authorities and i will turn it over to my colleagues to address how they have been used in practice and their value to National Security. My colleague from the nsa will address the fourth authority, the cdr authority senator feinstein described in which nsa ingage in metadata and counterterrorism investigations. The roving wiretap authority, this enables the government to continue surveilling the courtapproved National Security target when the target takes affirmative steps to thwart surveillance. These individuals rapidly and repeatedly change Communication Service providers to evade government monitoring. The roving provision allows us to continue surveillance without aaving to go back to the fis court for a new order each time the targets which their phone. A relatively small number of cases each year. These cases tend to involved highly trained foreign Intelligence Officers who use these counter surveillance techniques or other important targets including some terrorism related targets. The water the wiretap act has contained a similar roving provision for ordinary criminal investigations of a drug dealer or organized crime figures who may take steps to thwart surveillance. The Business Records authority. This allows the government to apply to the court for an order to collect records and other anuments relevant to authorized National Security investigation. It allows the government to obtain many of the same types of records it can obtain through a jet a grand jury subpoena through a case. It can be used to obtain drivers license records, hotel records, car rental records, shipping records and the like. In most cases, these are records the government obtains and a criminal or civil investigation without any court order. Interests fority clue the use of less secure criminal authorities or because there may be no criminal Investigation Underway and something thats purely an intelligent matter. This authority has been used several dozen times a year on average over the last few years. The Business Records provision is also the mechanism for the targeted collection of cdrs from teleCommunication Service providers. My colleague from an essay will discuss that this provision describes a way for the government to identify telephone contacts of suspected terrorists may be in the United States. We had the lone wolf provision. This enables the government to surveilling foreign person engaged in International Terrorism but who lacks to ational connections terrorist group. Not hadment has occasion to use the lone wolf authority to date but it fills an important gap in election capabilities where isolated actors are concerned. It allows for the surveillance of a foreign terrorist who might be inspired by a Foreign Terrorist Group but who is not technically an agent of that group. For an example, it would allow surveillance of a foreign person who has self radicalized through viewing propaganda of an organization on the internet or a known terrorist who severs his connections with the Foreign Terrorist Group. Use of any of the three authorities are described acquires requires approval from the court. Each of them also requires strict rules governing how the government must handle information obtained concerning u. S. Persons trade each of them is subject to extensive executive Branch Oversight as well as congressional reporting requirements and oversight. Each has been renewed by congress multiple times in the past. I will turn it over to my colleagues. Graham,morning chairman members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about important provisions of the usa freedom act that will expire later this year unless reauthorized by congress. These provisions have been integral to the fbis success in many National Security investigations. While i will likely not be able to get into specific examples and our use of these provisions, i will do these i would do my best to provide situations which demonstrate the Critical Role these tools play in National Security investigations. Ive seen the necessity of these provisions throughout my time as the counterintelligence agent and counterintelligence counterterrorism agent. National security threats have evolved significantly in the last 20 years from the proliferation of mobile smartphones to the expanded use of encryption new technology has allowed actors to work increasingly in the shadows. Today we have nearly universal access to the internet and anyone with a cell phone can view and become radicalized by extremist content. Subjects are no longer forced to travel to other countries to communicate with other extremists who threaten the security of the United States. They can do this from their home. We witness a shift toward individuals acting alone without clear ties to anyone foreign adversary. Our window for identification and disruption is shrinking. Threats have evolved. Congress has helped ensure we are prepared for tools to protect the u. S. And its interests. Im here to talk about expiring provisions which the fbi uses with pfizer courtapproved oversight. As my colleague explained, we use is this records provision to obtain records and other tangible things for use in nest National Security investigation. We described the Business Records provision is a Building Block authority. We use it during the early stages of an investigation to build our case against National Security threats. Its important to note the response to Business Record orders do not contain content. The information we get from a Business Records order often help us meet the threshold needed to get an order from the pfizer court for more techniques such as a wiretap. Once we receive Business Records returns if the suspected terrorist is communicating with a known bomb maker, we would have relevant information to establish probable cause for a wiretap. If we receive Business Record returns showing the suspected terrorist is buying bomb making materials, that information can help us establish probable cause. The usa freedom act is an important provision that counteracts efforts from various National Security threats including terrorists and Intelligence Officers to avoid court authorized surveillance. These individuals employ tactics such as using multiple burner phones or creating multiple email accounts. We use this authority regularly in our National Security investigation as a tool to avoid missing critical intelligence that would be lost if our ability to initiate surveillance was delayed by the need to obtain a warrant on each new facility. The last authority the fbi requests is the lone wolf provision even though it has not yet been used we believe it is critical to our National Security toolkit. Homegrown violent extremists are among top threats to the homeland. These individuals are not indirect vibration with foreign terrorist organizations. Homegrown violent extremists are often self radicalized online through terrorist propaganda and motivated to attack with no rest assured, the wont catch the lone wolf provision is use the its nonus persons. These authorities are important in our fight to keep the American Public safe the fbi urges congress to reauthorized these authorities because we are confident they will continue to play an Important Role in National Security investigations as adversaries continue to advance. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. Im happy to answer any questions related to these authorities. Chairman, Ranking Member, distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the National Security agency possum call detail Records Program. The authority for the call detail record or cdr program is among the important provision of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act that will expire at the end of the year, this year, unless reauthorized by congress. Congress added this authority to the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act four years ago in the usa freedom act as one of several significant reforms designed to enhance privacy and Civil Liberties. Meta datad nsas Bulk Collection Program with a new Legal Authority whereby the bulk metadata would remain with the Telecommunications Service providers. As this committee 2015 report describes, the cdr authority provides a narrowly tailored mechanism for the targeted collection of telephone metadata for possible connections between foreign powers or agents of foreign powers and others as part of an authorized investigation to protect against International Terrorism. Critically, the provision authorizes the collection of certain metadata associated with telephone calls such as the originating or terminating telephone number and the date and time of the call, but does not authorize collecting the ,ontent of any communications name, address or Financial Information of a customer or locational information. As this committee is aware, the nsa recently discontinued the cdr program and deleted the records acquired under the cdr theority after balancing programs intelligence value associated cost, and compliance of data integrity concerns. Nsas decision to extend the program does not Mean Congress should allow the cdr authority to expire. Rather, that decision shows that the executive branch is a responsible steward of the Authority Congress affords it. As technology changes, are adversaries habits evolve and adapt. In light of this dynamic environment, nsa supports reauthorization of the cdr provision so that the government will retain its provincially potentially valuable tool should approve useful in the future. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to your questions. Make anld like to opening statement. I appreciate that. I was proud to join with senator lee in requesting this hearing. For senator lee and myself we thank you for voting for this hearing, mr. Chairman. Im proud of our successful efforts in 2015 to past usa freedom act. The first Major Overhaul of government surveillance powers in decades. Significant privacy protections for the American People. Time we did that not even look at it to see how it works. We have the opportunity to learn from it. Respond to whats happened over the past four years. What have we learned . We know the government issued only 14 cdr program orders in 2018. 400 34ey collect over million records relating to over 19 million phone calls. Incidence of over collection. That have resulted in the records and ultimately decommissioning the program. We know director dan coats acknowledged even as he requested reauthorization of the authorities granted the usa freedom since the cdr programs relative intelligence value was negligible. What dont we know . Unfortunately, quite a bit. A month away from these authorities expiring. We dont know what caused over collection, what companies were responsible or why it was not feasible for the nsa to identify or isolate the improperly produced data. Its not as though senator lee and i have not trying to learn the answers to these questions. Sure this waske not a republican or democrat issue. It was an issue the United States cares about. Almost a year ago in december 2018 senator lee and i wrote a letter to the dni and Justice Department asking these and other questions. We failed to get a response. So almost seven months later and july, we wrote again. Unfortunately, we have yet to get a substantive response to either these letters. Despite not answering our question, the government is now requesting permanent reauthorization of all of the authorities granted usa freedom including the cdr program, and eventuallyit might technology might evolve to the point to collect made a data and compliance with the law. We might be able to obey the law. Maybe someday it will be of some use, hopefully we will develop technologies to not again violate the law. That is not appropriate justification to reauthorize these powers. Maybe we could actually follow the law. If at s

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