USA PATRIOT Act Sunset: Provisions That Expire on December 31, 2005

Publication Date: June 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

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Abstract:

Several sections of Title II of the USA PATRIOT Act (the act) and one section of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act each relating to enhanced foreign intelligence and law enforcement surveillance authority expire on December 31, 2005. The authority remains in effect only with respect to foreign intelligence investigations begun before sunset or to offenses or potential offense begun or occurring before that date. Aside from the fact there may be some disagreement of whether a "potential offense" is a suspected crime, and/or an incomplete crime, and/or a future crime, after December 31, 2005 the law reverts to its previous form unless it has been amended or extended in the interim. The 9/11 Commission mentioned the approaching sunset and thought as a general matter that "a full and informed debate on the PATRIOT Act would be healthy."

The consequences of sunset are not the same for every expiring section. In some instances the temporary provision has been replaced with a permanent one; in some, other provisions have been made temporary by attachment to an expiring section; in still others, the apparent impact of termination has been mitigated by related provisions either in the act or elsewhere.

The temporary provisions are: sections 201 (wiretapping in terrorism cases), 202 (wiretapping in computer fraud and abuse felony cases), 203(b) (sharing wiretap information), 203(d) (sharing foreign intelligence information), 204 (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) pen register/trap & trace exceptions), 206 (roving FISA wiretaps), 207 (duration of FISA surveillance of non-United States persons who are agents of a foreign power), 209 (seizure of voice-mail messages pursuant to warrants), 212 (emergency disclosure of electronic surveillance), 214 (FISA pen register/ trap and trace authority), 215 (FISA access to tangible items), 217 (interception of computer trespasser communications), 218 (purpose for FISA orders), 220 (nationwide service of search warrants for electronic evidence), 223 (civil liability and discipline for privacy violations), and 225 (provider immunity for FISA wiretap assistance); and in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, section 6001 ("lone wolf" FISA orders).

The unimpaired provisions of Title II are: sections 203(a)(sharing grand jury information), 203(c)(procedures for grand jury and wiretap information sharing that identifies U.S. persons), 205 (employment of translators by the Federal Bureau of Investigation), 208 (adding 3 judges to FISA court), 210 (access to payment source information from communications providers), 211 (communications services by cable companies), 213 (sneak and peek warrants), 216 (law enforcement pen register/ trap and trace changes), 219 (single-jurisdiction search warrants for terrorism), 221 (trade sanctions), and 222 (provider assistance to law enforcement agencies).

This report is available in an abridged version (without its footnotes, chart, and most of its citations to authority) as CRS Report RS21704, USA PATRIOT Act Sunset: A Sketch.