{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=6f23dfbf-cdf0-46cb-91ac-05194439dfa7", "Sens. Franken, Heller Announce Reintroduction of Bill to Increase Transparency over Government Surveillance of Americans", "2013-10-30", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "NV", "Dean Heller", "H001041", "www.heller.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senators\u2019 Bipartisan Bill Will Help Americans Hold Government Accountable; \r\n Franken Plans to Hold Hearing with Top Officials, Privacy Experts, Google \r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. [10/30/13]\u2014Today, U.S. Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) continued their push to help Americans hold the government accountable by reintroducing a bill to increase transparency over government surveillance\u00a0of American citizens. In addition, Sen. Franken announced that he\u00a0plans to hold\u00a0a hearing on his bill\u00a0on Wednesday, Nov. 13,\u00a0that will include participation from top administration officials, privacy experts, and a representative from Google.\r\nThe bipartisan Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013, which was first introduced in the summer and is being reintroduced today with new provisions, is the leading surveillance transparency bill in the Senate. The legislation would expand and improve ongoing government reporting about programs under the PATRIOT Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that have recently been the subject of controversy. It would also provide Americans with the basic information they need to decide for themselves whether the government is giving due weight to both privacy and national security.\u00a0\r\n\u201cThe American public is naturally suspicious of executive power, and when things are done secretly, they tend to think that power is being abused,\u201d\u00a0said Sen. Franken.\u00a0\u201cAnd right now, the public isn\u2019t getting the most basic information about what\u2019s going on with government surveillance programs. That needs to change. My bill would require the NSA to disclose to the public how many Americans are having their data collected, and how many are having their information looked at. This legislation goes a long way toward increasing transparency over these programs, and I look forward to holding a hearing on it in my subcommittee.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe American people have a right to know what their government is doing. While I personally believe that the practice of bulk data collection should be eliminated, the government can at least take immediate steps to increase transparency in programs that have many Americans suspicious.\u00a0 In addition, private companies who have been served a subpoena should be able to share basic information with their customers. Protecting Americans\u2019 privacy is a bipartisan issue, which is why I am glad to be working with Senator Franken on this legislation,\u201d\u00a0said Sen. Heller.\r\nRight now, federal laws require the government to publicly disclose only a minimum amount of information about these programs. The Administration recently decided to supplement this reporting with additional voluntary and ad hoc disclosures. The companies involved in these programs are subject to strict gag orders. The bill would make it easier for companies to voluntarily disclose general information about the number of requests they receive and the number of their users affected.\r\nSen. Franken is the Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law and\u00a0is a long-time advocate of government surveillance transparency. In 2011 and 2012, he cosponsored legislation to increase transparency and oversight of government surveillance programs. When these measures did not pass, he voted against reauthorizing key provisions of both the\u00a0PATRIOT Act\u00a0and the\u00a0Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.\r\nThe\u00a0Surveillance Transparency Act of\u00a02013 would do the following:\r\nRequire the government to report annually on:\r\n \r\nThe number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court orders issued under key provisions of the PATRIOT Act and FISA;\r\nThe general categories of information collected;\r\nThe number of American citizens and permanent residents whose information was collected under the categories;\r\nThe number of American citizens and permanent residents whose information was actually reviewed by federal agents; and\r\nThe number of searches run on that data, including the number of searches run based on data from American citizens and permanent residents.\r\n \r\nAllow companies to voluntarily disclose:\r\n \r\nThe number of orders they received and complied with;\r\nThe general categories of information they produced; and\r\nThe number of users whose information was produced in those categories.\r\n \r\nWorking with Sen. Heller, Sen. Franken has added two new provisions to strengthen the bill. These provisions will ensure that the bill\u2019s reporting requirements for the government cannot be used to justify the collection of any new personal information, or to justify any additional spending. You can read more about the Surveillance Transparency Act of 2013\u00a0here\u00a0and find bill text\u00a0here. You can watch video of Sen. Franken discussing the need for increased transparency during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing from July\u00a0here.\r\nSen. Franken's legislation responds to the concerns of over 60 leading Internet companies and advocacy groups who recently wrote the President and Congressional leaders to demand more government disclosure on surveillance programs and the ability to release information on data the government is requesting.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=6f23dfbf-cdf0-46cb-91ac-05194439dfa7"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1478839442133904, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}