Today, in response to news reports that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) repeatedly broke U.S. law between 2002 and 2006 in accessing private telephone records, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, reiterated the pressing need for National Security Letter (NSL) reform. Nadler’s legislation, the National Security Letters Reform Act of 2009, much of which was incorporated into the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009, is essential in order to reform and improve intelligence gathering, and to protect Americans from unnecessary and illegal invasions of their privacy. Nadler has chaired Subcommittee hearings on NSL authority in recent years and plans to hold future hearings following the release of a Department of Justice report on FBI abuses.

Nadler issued the following statement:

“I am appalled but not particularly surprised to read reports that the FBI illegally collected phone records for years on thousands of Americans. This unconstitutional disregard for civil liberties is unfortunately in line with the culture of abuse of power which thrived under the Bush administration. Between 2001 and 2008, many of the checks that were in place to prevent overreach by the executive branch were systematically dismantled, always in the name of fighting terrorism.

“Today’s news on the FBI’s illegal actions only serves to underscore the urgency for NSL and PATRIOT Act reforms. My NSL legislation is a crucial tool for safeguarding Americans against government invasion of privacy and, generally, against any administration that would seek to abuse its power. We simply must reign in NSL authority to meet constitutional standards and restore essential checks and balances to our government. And we must ensure that the FBI follows the Constitution as it seeks to protect our national security.”

NSL authority was greatly expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. A NSL allows the FBI to collect – in secret and without judicial approval – almost limitless personal information on any American, including records from telecommunications companies, financial institutions and insurance companies.

H.R. 1800, the National Security Letters Reform Act of 2009, is a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Nadler, along with Reps. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), William Delahunt (D-MA) and Ron Paul (R-TX), in order to address the NSL abuses disclosed by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General in two reports (in 2007 and 2008). While the past couple of years have yielded internal FBI improvements, the need for statutory reform remains. The bill would protect both privacy and national security by, among other changes, restoring the standard that records sought must relate to a suspected terrorist or spy, giving a NSL recipient a meaningful right to challenge the NSL and its nondisclosure requirement, placing a time limit on a NSL gag order and allowing for court-approved extensions, and requiring additional privacy protections.

H.R. 3845, the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009, is legislation sponsored by Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), along with Reps. Nadler and Bobby Scott (D-VA), which is designed to comprehensively reform intelligence gathering procedures. As part of the PATRIOT Act reauthorization, it incorporates Nadler’s NSL provisions and would amend and extend expiring PATRIOT Act and related provisions necessary to combat terrorism, while better protecting Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.