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Summary:
S. 113 is a bill in the 108th Congress to extend the coverage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ("FISA") to non-United States persons who engage in international terrorism or activities in preparation for international terrorism, without a showing of membership in or affiliation with an international terrorist group. FISA provides a means by which the government can obtain approval to conduct electronic surveillance (wiretap) and other searches with respect to a foreign power or its agents in order to obtain intelligence related to espionage, terrorism, or other matters involving national security. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), P.L. 95-511, Title I, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1796, codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq., provides a framework for the use of electronic surveillance and other investigative methods to acquire foreign intelligence information. This measure seeks to strike a balance between national security needs in the context of foreign intelligence gathering and privacy rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.1 FISA provides a means by which the government can obtain approval to conduct searches and surveillance of a foreign power or its agents without first meeting the more stringent standard in Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510 et seq. [hereinafter "Title III"] that applies to criminal investigations. While Title III requires a showing of probable cause that a proposed target has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, FISA requires a showing of probable cause to believe that the target is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Congress amended FISA so that it no longer requires a certification that the (primary)
