# Plain Language Summary: Fourth Amendment Restoration Act

This bill would completely eliminate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a law that has governed how U.S. intelligence agencies conduct surveillance since 1978. In its place, the bill would require federal agents to get a traditional warrant from a regular federal court before conducting any surveillance on American citizens—the same type of warrant that law enforcement needs to search someone's home or tap a phone line. Right now, FISA allows intelligence agencies to use special secret courts to approve surveillance with a lower standard of proof than regular criminal warrants require. This bill would eliminate that special process entirely and force all surveillance of Americans to go through the standard criminal justice system.

The bill creates strict rules about what information can be used in court. If the government collects information about an American citizen while surveilling a foreign person, that information cannot be used as evidence in any criminal, civil, or administrative case against that American. Similarly, any information collected about Americans under current executive orders related to intelligence activities would be off-limits in court proceedings. The bill also makes it a serious federal crime—punishable by up to ten years in prison and fines—for government officials to conduct surveillance on Americans without proper warrants or to use illegally obtained information.

In practical terms, this would dramatically change how intelligence agencies operate. The FBI, CIA, and NSA would lose the ability to use FISA courts to approve surveillance on suspected foreign agents or terrorists operating in the United States. They would need to convince a regular federal judge that they have probable cause of a crime before monitoring anyone's communications or conducting searches. This could make it harder for intelligence agencies to investigate national security threats quickly, but it would provide stronger legal protections for American citizens' privacy and Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches.

Fourth Amendment Restoration Act

Fourth Amendment Restoration Act This bill limits surveillance conducted for foreign intelligence purposes. Specifically, the bill repeals provisions authorizing without a court order various types of searches and surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, including electronic surveillance and access to business records. An officer of the U.S. government must obtain a warrant for certain search and surveillance activities against a U.S. citizen, including (1) conducting electronic surveillance, (2) conducting physical searches of property under a U.S. citizen's exclusive control, or (3) targeting a U.S. citizen to acquire foreign intelligence information. The bill provides for criminal penalties for a person who knowingly violates these requirements or otherwise obtains such information under color of law without statutory authorization. Information about a U.S. citizen acquired under Executive Order 12333 (relating to intelligence gathering) or during surveillance of a non-U.S. citizen shall not be used against the U.S. citizen in any civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding or investigation.