H.R. 4681 Email

Congress is trying to pass H.R. 4681, a bill that will allow government agencies unrestricted, completely legal access to the personal files and communications of American citizens. Most of it is a funding bill, but at the last minute, amendments were made to make it legal to spy on citizens.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/4681/text

The dangerous part of the bill, Sec. 309, is pasted below.

  SEC. 309. PROCEDURES FOR THE RETENTION OF INCIDENTALLY ACQUIRED
      COMMUNICATIONS.
    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
        (1) Covered communication.--The term ``covered communication''
    means any nonpublic telephone or electronic communication acquired
    without the consent of a person who is a party to the
    communication, including communications in electronic storage.
        (2) Head of an element of the intelligence community.--The term
    ``head of an element of the intelligence community'' means, as
    appropriate--
            (A) the head of an element of the intelligence community;
        or
            (B) the head of the department or agency containing such
        element.
        (3) United states person.--The term ``United States person''
    has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Foreign
    Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801).
    (b) Procedures for Covered Communications.--
        (1) Requirement to adopt.--Not later than 2 years after the
    date of the enactment of this Act each head of an element of the
    intelligence community shall adopt procedures approved by the
    Attorney General for such element that ensure compliance with the
    requirements of paragraph (3).
        (2) Coordination and approval.--The procedures required by
    paragraph (1) shall be--
            (A) prepared in coordination with the Director of National
        Intelligence; and
            (B) approved by the Attorney General prior to issuance.
        (3) Procedures.--
            (A) Application.--The procedures required by paragraph (1)
        shall apply to any intelligence collection activity not
        otherwise authorized by court order (including an order or
        certification issued by a court established under subsection
        (a) or (b) of section 103 of the Foreign Intelligence
        Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803)), subpoena, or
        similar legal process that is reasonably anticipated to result
        in the acquisition of a covered communication to or from a
        United States person and shall permit the acquisition,
        retention, and dissemination of covered communications subject
        to the limitation in subparagraph (B).
            (B) Limitation on retention.--A covered communication shall
        not be retained in excess of 5 years, unless--
                (i) the communication has been affirmatively
            determined, in whole or in part, to constitute foreign
            intelligence or counterintelligence or is necessary to
            understand or assess foreign intelligence or
            counterintelligence;
                (ii) the communication is reasonably believed to
            constitute evidence of a crime and is retained by a law
            enforcement agency;
                (iii) the communication is enciphered or reasonably
            believed to have a secret meaning;
                (iv) all parties to the communication are reasonably
            believed to be non-United States persons;
                (v) retention is necessary to protect against an
            imminent threat to human life, in which case both the
            nature of the threat and the information to be retained
            shall be reported to the congressional intelligence
            committees not later than 30 days after the date such
            retention is extended under this clause;
                (vi) retention is necessary for technical assurance or
            compliance purposes, including a court order or discovery
            obligation, in which case access to information retained
            for technical assurance or compliance purposes shall be
            reported to the congressional intelligence committees on an
            annual basis; or
                (vii) retention for a period in excess of 5 years is
            approved by the head of the element of the intelligence
            community responsible for such retention, based on a
            determination that retention is necessary to protect the
            national security of the United States, in which case the
            head of such element shall provide to the congressional
            intelligence committees a written certification
            describing--

                    (I) the reasons extended retention is necessary to
                protect the national security of the United States;
                    (II) the duration for which the head of the element
                is authorizing retention;
                    (III) the particular information to be retained;
                and
                    (IV) the measures the element of the intelligence
                community is taking to protect the privacy interests of
                United States persons or persons located inside the
                United States.

The only representative to read the bill and find this part was Rep. Justin Amash of MI. Here are his comments.

https://www.facebook.com/repjustinamash/posts/812569822115759

http://thehill.com/policy/technology/226752-gop-rep-attempted-late-bid-to-kill-spy-bill

I must reiterate that Sec 309 of the bill was added immediately before voting, and was hidden from the people voting on it, so very few actually know what they truly voted on. Most of congress has been duped.

Please report on this. The American people must be aware of what is trying to be made legal.