SAFE Act
Latest action (14 Mar 2024): Introduced
What this bill does
I can't produce a complete summary from truncated bill text without risking inaccuracy, but based on what's provided, here is a summary limited to what the text supports:
S. 3961, the SAFE Act, would amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to add new restrictions and oversight requirements to Section 702 surveillance, which allows the government to collect communications of non-U.S. persons abroad. The bill would require the Justice Department to periodically audit FBI "queries" (searches) of this collected data that involve U.S. persons, require FBI personnel to complete training and, for certain sensitive categories of people (elected officials, political figures, journalists, religious figures), obtain higher-level approval before searching. It would generally bar officials from viewing the content of communications returned by such searches without a warrant, except in specific circumstances like consent, imminent danger, or narrow cybersecurity purposes, and would require documentation and record-keeping for these searches. It also creates FBI accountability procedures, escalating consequences for improper queries, and new reporting requirements to Congress, including quarterly and annual reports.
The bill primarily affects federal agencies—particularly the FBI, Department of Justice, and intelligence community—that use Section 702 authority, as well as U.S. persons and people located in the U.S. whose communications may be incidentally collected and searched. Additional provisions referenced in the table of contents (not detailed in the excerpted text) address FISA court reforms, penalties for violations, data broker purchases of personal information, and transparency measures.
S. 3961 was introduced in the Senate on March 14, 2024, by Senator Richard Durbin with bipartisan cosponsors, and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to available records, it did not receive a committee or floor vote before the end of the 118th Congress, meaning it did not become law and would need to be reintroduced in a future Congress to be considered again.
Plain-English summary generated by Bill100 AI from the official record. Always verify against the source below.
Official summary
This bill was introduced on March 14, 2024, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Common questions
- What does S. 3961 do?
- I can't produce a complete summary from truncated bill text without risking inaccuracy, but based on what's provided, here is a summary limited to what the text supports: S. 3961, the SAFE Act, would amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to add new restrictions and oversight requirements to Section 702 surveillance, which allows the government to collect communications of non-U.S. persons abroad. The bill would require the Justice Department to periodically audit FBI "queries" (searches) of this collected data that involve U.S. persons, require FBI personnel to complete training and, for certain sensitive categories of people (elected officials, political figures, journalists, religious figures), obtain higher-level approval before searching. It would generally bar officials from viewing the content of communications returned by such searches without a warrant, except in specific circumstances like consent, imminent danger, or narrow cybersecurity purposes, and would require documentation and record-keeping for these searches. It also creates FBI accountability procedures, escalating consequences for improper queries, and new reporting requirements to Congress, including quarterly and annual reports. The bill primarily affects federal agencies—particularly the FBI, Department of Justice, and intelligence community—that use Section 702 authority, as well as U.S. persons and people located in the U.S. whose communications may be incidentally collected and searched. Additional provisions referenced in the table of contents (not detailed in the excerpted text) address FISA court reforms, penalties for violations, data broker purchases of personal information, and transparency measures. S. 3961 was introduced in the Senate on March 14, 2024, by Senator Richard Durbin with bipartisan cosponsors, and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to available records, it did not receive a committee or floor vote before the end of the 118th Congress, meaning it did not become law and would need to be reintroduced in a future Congress to be considered again.
- Has S. 3961 become law?
- Not yet. As of 14 Mar 2024, S. 3961 is introduced.
- Who sponsored S. 3961?
- S. 3961 was sponsored by Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] (Democrat-IL), with 14 cosponsors.
- What's the latest action on S. 3961?
- Introduced (14 Mar 2024).
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