Rep. Laurel Lee Introduces RISA Act, Significant Reforms to FISA

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Laurel Lee (R-FL) introduced the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America (RISA) Act, which reauthorizes Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for five years with significant reforms. This legislation will provide accountability, transparency, and reporting measures to ensure Congress can conduct robust oversight of the intelligence community and its use of FISA authorities.

“FISA is an indispensable tool that protects us from national security threats within the United States and abroad,” said Rep. Laurel Lee. “The RISA Act will bring meaningful change to surveillance operations that protects us against adversarial threats in addition to safeguarding our civil liberties. This bill also increases transparency in surveillance applications and will hold government employees accountable who violate the authorities in FISA.”

Specifically, this bill will:

• Require the Attorney General to implement procedures to ensure any application under FISA is accurate and complete.
• Implement new and heightened penalties for those who violate the authorities granted in FISA.
• Add significant reporting and transparency requirements so that Congress can properly conduct oversight of the intelligence community.

Rep. Lee has been a part of several working groups on reforming FISA in addition to her work on the House Judiciary Committee.

Read the full bill text here.

###