,,ii #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 #aacj ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,june #aa1 #bjac ,mr4 ,merkley 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,lee1 ,mr4 ,heller1 ,mr4 ,leahy1 ,mr4 ,begich1 ,mr4 ,franken1 ,mr4 ,tester1 ,mr4 ,wyden1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 and ,mr4 ,paul7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to require the ,attorney ,general to disclose each decision1 order1 or opinion of a ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court that includes significant legal interpretation of section #eja or #gjb of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh unless such disclosure is not in the national security interest of the ,united ,states and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,ending ,secret ,law ,act4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,secret law is inconsistent with democratic governance4 ,in order for the rule of law to prevail1 the requirements of the law must be publicly discoverable4 7#b7 ,the ,united ,states ,court of ,appeals for the ,seventh ,circuit stated in #aiih that the 8idea of secret laws is repugnant04 7#c7 ,the open publication of laws and directives is a defining characteristic of government of the ,united ,states4 ,the first ,congress of the ,united ,states mandated that every law1 order1 resolution1 and vote shall be published in at least three of the public newspapers printed within the ,united ,states4 7#d7 ,the practice of withholding decisions of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court is at odds with the ,united ,states tradition of open publication of law4 7#e7 ,the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court acknowledges that such ,court has issued legally significant interpretations of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahja et seq47 that are not accessible to the public4 7#f7 ,the exercise of surveillance authorities under the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahja et seq471 as interpreted by secret court opinions1 potentially implicates the communications of ,united ,states persons who are necessarily unaware of such surveillance4 7#g7 ,section #eja of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahfa71 as amended by section #bae of the ,,usa ,,patriot ,act 7,public ,law #ajg-ef2 #aae ,stat4 #bhg71 authorizes the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation to require the production of any tangible things and the extent of such authority1 as interpreted by secret court opinions1 has been concealed from the knowledge and awareness of the people of the ,united ,states4 7#h7 ,in #bjaj1 the ,department of ,justice and the ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence established a process to review and declassify opinions of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court1 but more than two years later no declassifications have been made4 #c4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that each decision1 order1 or opinion issued by the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court or the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court of ,review that includes significant construction or interpretation of section #eja or section #gjb of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahfa and #ahha;a7 should be declassified in a manner consistent with the protection of national security1 intelligence sources and methods1 and other properly classified and sensitive information4 #d4 ,requirement for disclosure of decisions1 orders1 and opinions of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court 7a7 ,section #eja 7#a7 ,in general ,section #eja of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahfa7 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7i7 ,disclosure of decisions 7#a7 ,decision defined ,in this subsection1 the term decision means any decision1 order1 or opinion issued by the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court or the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court of ,review that includes significant construction or interpretation of this section4 7#b7 ,requirement for disclosure ,subject to paragraphs 7#c7 and 7#d71 the ,attorney ,general shall declassify and make available to the public-- 7,a7 each decision that is required to be submitted to committees of ,congress under section #fja7;c71 not later than #de days after such opinion is issued2 and 7,b7 each decision issued prior to the date of the enactment of the ,ending ,secret ,law ,act that was required to be submitted to committees of ,congress under section #fja7;c71 not later than #ahj days after such date of enactment4 7#c7 ,unclassified summaries ,notwithstanding paragraph 7#b7 and subject to paragraph 7#d71 if the ,attorney ,general makes a determination that a decision may not be declassified and made available in a manner that protects the national security of the ,united ,states1 including methods or sources related to national security1 the ,attorney ,general shall release an unclassified summary of such decision4 7#d7 ,unclassified report ,notwithstanding paragraphs 7#b7 and 7#c71 if the ,attorney ,general makes a determination that any decision may not be declassified under paragraph 7#b7 and an unclassified summary of such decision may not be made available under paragraph 7#c71 the ,attorney ,general shall make available to the public an unclassified report on the status of the internal deliberations and process regarding the declassification by personnel of ,executive branch of such decisions4 ,such report shall include-- 7,a7 an estimate of the number of decisions that will be declassified at the end of such deliberations2 and 7,b7 an estimate of the number of decisions that1 through a determination by the ,attorney ,general1 shall remain classified to protect the national security of the ,united ,states4 4 7#b7 ,section #gjb ,section #gjb7l7 of the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,act of #aigh 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #ahha;a7l77 is amended by adding at the end the following3 7#d7 ,disclosure of decisions 7,a7 ,decision defined ,in this paragraph1 the term decision means any decision1 order1 or opinion issued by the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court or the ,foreign ,intelligence ,surveillance ,court of ,review that includes significant construction or interpretation of this section4 7,b7 ,requirement for disclosure ,subject to subparagraphs 7,c7 and 7,d71 the ,attorney ,general shall declassify and make available to the public-- 7i7 each decision that is required to be submitted to committees of ,congress under section #fja7;c71 not later than #de days after such opinion is issued2 and 7ii7 each decision issued prior to the date of the enactment of the ,ending ,secret ,law ,act that was required to be submitted to committees of ,congress under section #fja7;c71 not later than #ahj days after such date of enactment4 7,c7 ,unclassified summaries ,notwithstanding subparagraph 7,b7 and subject to subparagraph 7,d71 if the ,attorney ,general makes a determination that a decision may not be declassified and made available in a manner that protects the national security of the ,united ,states1 including methods or sources related to national security1 the ,attorney ,general shall release an unclassified summary of such decision4 7,d7 ,unclassified report ,notwithstanding subparagraphs 7,b7 and 7,c71 if the ,attorney ,general makes a determination that any decision may not be declassified under subparagraph 7,b7 and an unclassified summary of such decision may not be made available under subparagraph 7,c71 the ,attorney ,general shall make available to the public an unclassified report on the status of the internal deliberations and process regarding the declassification by personnel of ,executive branch of such decisions4 ,such report shall include-- 7i7 an estimate of the number of decisions that will be declassified at the end of such deliberations2 and 7ii7 an estimate of the number of decisions that1 through a determination by the ,attorney ,general1 shall remain classified to protect the national security of the ,united ,states4 4