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LaMalfa Cyber Security Amendment Prohibiting Government Surveillance of Americans Passes in House

April 18, 2013

National Cyber Security Bill Passes on House Floor

Washington, DC – Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) today announced the passage of a floor amendment to the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (H.R. 624) sponsored by LaMalfa and Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers. H.R. 624 is intended to help the government combat the growing number of cyber attacks conducted by foreign governments and terrorist groups. Following the unanimous passage of LaMalfa’s amendment, H.R. 624 was passed by the house with overwhelming bipartisan support.

“With the adoption of this amendment, which I am proud to have sponsored, we may be assured this bill does not permit the government to conduct surveillance on Americans. We recognize that America faces serious cyber threats from malicious hackers in China and elsewhere, but our fundamental principles of civil liberty and individual privacy require that our personal information be protected from our own government, too.

“By embracing this provision prohibiting government surveillance, House Republicans have shown we are committed to taking important steps to improve our nation’s cyber security in a responsible manner that keeps government out of our private lives. This is a victory for cyber security and individual liberty.”

Listed as Amendment #9 to H.R. 624, LaMalfa’s amendment reads as follows:

“LIMITATION ON SURVEILLANCE.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the Department of Defense or the National Security

Agency or any other element of the intelligence community to target a United States person* for surveillance.”

*(The term “United States person” is commonly used in national security laws and is defined as citizens of the United States and legal residents or legal visitors to the country.)

Video of Rep. LaMalfa’s floor presentation of the amendment may be found on the main page of the congressman’s website: https://lamalfa.house.gov/

Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California’s First Congressional District including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.