BOB Virginia CHAIRMAN JAMES SENSENBHENNER, JR., Wisconsin LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas STEVE CHABOT, Ohio DARRELL ISSA, California HANDY FORBES, Virginia STEVE KING, Iowa TRENT FRANKS, Arizona LOUIE GOHMERT, Texas JIM JORDAN, Ohio TED POE, Texas JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah TOM MARINO, TREY GOWDY, South Carolina RAUL Fl LABHADOR, Idaho BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas DOUG COLLINS, Georgia RON DESANTIS, Florida MIMI WALTERS, California KEN BUCK, Colorado JOHN RATCLIFFE, Texas DAVE Michigan MIKE BISHOP, Michigan ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS of the ?l?nitzd States 313mle of Representative COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY 2138 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20515?6216 (202) 225?3951 ry April 22, 2016 Honorable James R. Clapper Director, Of?ce of the Director of National Intelligence JOHN CONYERS, JR Michigan RANKING MEMBER JERROLD NADLER, New York ZOE LOFGREN, California SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas STEVE COHEN, Tennessee HENRY JOHNSON, JFI Georgia PEDRO PIERLUISI, Puerto Rico JUDY CHU, California TED DEUTCH, Florida LUISV GUTIEHREZ, Illinois KAREN BASS, California CEDRIC RICHMOND, Louisiana SUZAN DELBENE, Washington HAKEEM JEFFRIES, New York DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island PETERS, California Washington, DC 20511 Dear Director Clapper: As you know, the House Committee on the Judiciary has renewed its oversight of surveillance programs conducted under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence-Surveillance Act. In order that we may properly evaluate these programs,,we write to ask that you provide us with a public estimate of the number of communications or transactions involving United States persons subject to Section 702 surveillance on an annual basis. We note that we are not the ?rst to ask you for this basic information. Since at least 2011, Senators Ron wyden and Mark Udall have ?sought repeatedly to gain an understanding of how many Americans have had their phone calls or emails collected and reviewed under this statute, but [they] have not been able to obtain even a rough estimate of this number.?1 In its July 2014 report, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board recommended that the National Security Agency annually count certain communications acquired under Section 702: the number of telephone communications acquired in which one caller is located in the United States; (2) the number of Internet communications acquired through upstream collection that originate or terminate in the United States; [and] (3) the number of communications of or concerning U.S. persons that the NSA positively identi?es as such in the routine course of its work.?2 These recommendations have still not been implemented.3 3. Rep. 112-174 (2012), at 10. 2 Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Report on the Surveillance Program Operated Pursuant to Section 702 Ofthe Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (June 2, 2014), at 146. 3 Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, Recommendations Assessment Report (Feb. 5, 2016), at 5. Letter to Director Clapper Page 2 In October 2015, a coalition of more than 30 civil liberties organizations?representing a wide range of political viewpoints?wrote to you for similar information about the impact of Section 702 surveillance on United States persons.4 Unsatis?ed with a largely unresponsive reply from your Civil Liberties Protection Of?ce, the groups wrote to you again in January 2016.5 We understand that representatives from ODNI and NSA recently met with the groups to discuss this request. We also understand that, to date, there is no speci?c plan or timeline to provide the requested information. At the core of each of these requests lies the concern that Section 702 surveillance programs may not adequately protect Americans? privacy or civil liberties. The leadership of the Intelligence Community has repeatedly assured us that collection of domestic communications under this authority is merely ?incidental,? and that the government complies with the law?s requirement to ?minimize the acquisition? of US. person information. Even a rough estimate of the number of US. persons impacted by these programs will help us to evaluate these claims. Given your office?s reluctance to provide this information in the past, we want to address two additional matters at the outset. First, we understand that an exact count of how many United States persons have been swept up into Section 702 surveillance efforts may not be feasible. The leadership of the intelligence community has long held this View, and the Inspector General for the National Security Agency?who is an administrative appointee, and not an independent inspector general?has deferred to your of?ce on this issue.6 We understand that limited resources and technical barriers may prevent you from making an exact count. We are not asking you for an exact count. Today, our request is simply for a rough estimate. You have already demonstrated that such an estimate is feasible. An October 3, 2011 opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court reports that the NSA, in an effort to address the court?s concerns about the collection of domestic communications under certain applications of Section 702, ?conducted a manual review of a random sample consisting of 50,440 Internet 4 Letter from Advocacy for Principled Action in Government, et al., to Director James R. Clapper, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Oct. 29, 2015). 5 Letter from Advocacy for Principled Action in Government, at al., to Director James R. Clapper, Of?ce of the Director of National Intelligence (Jan. 13, 2016). 6 See, Letter from 1. Charles McCoullough, Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, to Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Mark Udall (June 15, 2012). Letter to Director Clapper Page 3 transactions taken from the more than 13.25 million Internet transactions acquired through upstream collection during a six month period.?7 In that case, the court found: NSA knows with certainty that the upstream collection . . . results in the acquisition of wholly domestic communications. By expanding its Section 702 acquisitions to include the acquisition of Internet transactions through its upstream collection, NSA has, as a practical matter, circumvented the spirit of [the statute] with regard to that collection.8 That case looked at a particular problem with ?upstream? collection. A similar but broader analysis may be necessary here. We are willing to work with your of?ce to determine the exact methodology for such a survey. We acknowledge that this estimate will be an imperfect substitute for a more precise accounting?but surely the American public is entitled to some idea of how many of our communications are swept up by these programs. Second, we understand that producing an estimate might require reviewing actual communications acquired under Section 702, which could itself raise privacy concerns. On this point, we refer you to the judgment of the many civil liberties organizations that support conducting ?a one-time, limited sampling of these communications,? if necessary. They believe it would be ?a net gain for privacy if conducted under appropriate safeguards and conditions.?9 We agree, and we are willing to work with your of?ce to implement those safeguards if necessary. This, too, is a problem we can solve. In the House of Representatives, it will fall ?rst to our Committee to determine whether Congress should extend Section 702 beyond its scheduled sunset on December 31, 2017. You have willingly shared information with us about the important and actionable intelligence obtained under these surveillance programs. Now we require your assistance in making a determination that the privacy protections in place are functioning as designed. We ask that you respond with your plan to provide us with this information as soon as possible, but no later than Friday, May 6, 2016. If you have any questions, please contact Aaron Hiller with the Democratic Staff of the House Committee on the Judiciary at 202-225-6906. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. 7 Memorandum Opinion, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Ct. (Oct. 3, 2011), at 33-34. 8 Id. at 48. 9 Letter from Advocacy for Principled Action in Government, et al., to Director James R. Clapper, Of?ce of the Director of National Intelligence (Oct. 29, 2015). Letter to Director Clapper Page 4 Sincerely? a ?Aw? Wenta?ve James Sensenbrenner, Jr resentative Jerrold Nadler Representative?D arrell E. Issa 3- Repres?m??ve Zoe Lo?n esent Jim Jordan C. ?Hank? Johnson, Jr. Representative Ted Poe Representative Ted Deutch Representative Jason Chaffetz ?11? jg Representative Cedric L. Richmond Representative Blake Farenthold Represggtati?uzi DelBene