03/07/2014 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY

           SJR 22-OPPOSE WARRANTLESS DATA COLLECTION                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
2:07:01 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR   COGHILL  reconvened   the   meeting   and  announced   the                                                              
consideration of  SJR 22. "Opposing the warrantless  collection of                                                              
telephone call  data by  the National  Security Agency."  This was                                                              
the first hearing.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
2:07:25 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR CATHY GIESSEL,  Alaska State Legislature,  Juneau, Alaska,                                                              
sponsor of  SJR 22, stated that  SJR 22 addresses another  form of                                                              
federal  overreach called  warrantless  data  collection. This  is                                                              
the  National  Security  Agency  (NSA) executing  a  dragnet  over                                                              
telephone calls  made by  private citizens, which  is akin  to the                                                              
thought police  in 1984 and an  invasion of privacy.  She deferred                                                              
further introduction to Ms. Conway.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
2:08:40 PM                                                                                                                    
JANE CONWAY,  Staff, Senator Cathy  Giessel, introduced SJR  22 on                                                              
behalf of the sponsor, reading the following into the record:                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     In a day  and age where private citizens,  business, and                                                                   
     even our local  and federal governments rely  on digital                                                                   
     and  telecommunication,   there   is  something   a  bit                                                                   
     chilling  in  realizing that  those  communications  may                                                                   
     not be secure or private.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     We have  all seen and heard  the news stories  about the                                                                   
     National  Security Agency (NSA)  and their massive  data                                                                   
     collection  program.    United   States  District  Court                                                                   
     Judge Richard  Leon ruled that  the NSA's program,  bulk                                                                   
     collection,  and querying of  telephone record  metadata                                                                   
     is   likely  unconstitutional   and   violates   privacy                                                                   
     rights.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
     Judge   Leon   said,   "I    cannot   imagine   a   more                                                                   
     indiscriminate   and   arbitrary  invasion   than   this                                                                   
     systematic  and high-tech  collection  and retention  of                                                                   
     personal  data on  virtually every  citizen for  purpose                                                                   
     of  querying and  analyzing  it without  prior  judicial                                                                   
     approval.   Surely,  such a program  infringes on  "that                                                                   
     degree of  privacy" that the  Founders enshrined  in the                                                                   
     Fourth Amendment."                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     The  NSA was founded  in 1952,  with a  strict focus  on                                                                   
     overseas rather  than domestic surveillance.   Unchecked                                                                   
     and  unrestrained,  this  agency   has  grown  into  the                                                                   
     nation's  largest  intelligence  agency and  has  broken                                                                   
     privacy  rules   or  overstepped  its   legal  authority                                                                   
     thousands  of times  each  year since  Congress  granted                                                                   
     the agency broad new powers in 2008.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     An  internal  audit,  dated   May  2012,  counted  2,776                                                                   
     incidents   (in   just  12   months)   of   unauthorized                                                                   
     collection,  storage,  access   to  or  distribution  of                                                                   
     legally protected  communications.  While most  of these                                                                   
     incidents  were unintended,  many  involved failures  of                                                                   
     due  diligence  or  violations   of  standard  operating                                                                   
     procedure.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
     The  most serious incidents  included  a violation of  a                                                                   
     court order  and unauthorized use  of data of  more than                                                                   
     3,000 Americans  and green-card holders.  As  well as an                                                                   
     incident  in February 2012,  that involved the  unlawful                                                                   
     retention  of 3,032  files that  the surveillance  court                                                                   
     had ordered the  NSA to destroy, in these  files were an                                                                   
     undisclosed number  of telephone call records.   Despite                                                                   
     quadrupling  of  the  NSA's   oversight  staff  after  a                                                                   
     series of  significant violations  in 2009, the  rate of                                                                   
     infractions increased in the following years.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     From  the number  of recorded  compliance issues,  there                                                                   
     is  no reliable  way  to  calculate how  many  Americans                                                                   
     have  had  their  communications  improperly  collected,                                                                   
     stored, or distributed by the NSA.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     The   Constitution  of   the   United  States   protects                                                                   
     individuals  against the abuse  of government  authority                                                                   
     and  the Fourth  Amendment  guards against  unreasonable                                                                   
     searches and  seizure and lays out specific  requirement                                                                   
     for  warrants.    The  Fifth   Amendment  requires  that                                                                   
     individuals  may not  be deprived of  life, liberty,  or                                                                   
     property without due process of law.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     These   NSA   activities   are  a   violation   of   the                                                                   
     Constitution and  strip Alaskans and Americans  of their                                                                   
     liberty.   SJR 22  urges the  Federal Government  to end                                                                   
     the mass telephone  call data collection program  and to                                                                   
     eliminate all stored metadata.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
      It urges the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court                                                                      
     to declassify past opinions and urges future opinions                                                                      
     to be released to the public.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     Finally, SJR  22 finds the NSA's activities  a troubling                                                                   
     example of  federal overreach and this  Legislature will                                                                   
     in  no  way   assist  the  NSA  in   facilitating  their                                                                   
     unconstitutional programs.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
2:12:39 PM                                                                                                                    
MS.  CONWAY  noted  that  the  packets  contain  articles  on  NSA                                                              
activities over  the last year,  and today she sent  the committee                                                              
aide  the  prerecorded  testimony   from  Edward  Snowden  to  the                                                              
European Parliament.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  COGHILL  asked if  she  was  aware  of recent  court  cases                                                              
challenging NSA activities.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. CONWAY said  she was aware of a lawsuit filed  by U.S. Senator                                                              
Rand Paul from  Kentucky and another that was  filed by Microsoft,                                                              
Facebook, Yahoo, and Google.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL  described SJR  22 as  a worthwhile request  dealing                                                              
with the privacy of citizens of the U.S. and Alaska.                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
2:17:13 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  DYSON  moved  to  report   SJR  22  from  committee  with                                                              
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s).                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  COGHILL announced  that  without  objection,  SJR 22  moved                                                              
from the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee.