Skip to Main Content
GW Law Library
Research Guides

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA)

An Act to authorize electronic surveillance to obtain foreign intelligence information.

Federal Government

The Department of Justice is responsible for administering FISA. The Attorney General is required to keep three congressional committees informed of the government's use of FISA: the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

For more detailed oversight information, see National Security Investigations & Prosecutions, 2d: Part II, Chapter 13. Congressional Oversight of FISA and Reporting.

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is an independent, bipartisan agency within the executive branch established by the 9/11 Commission Act, Pub. L. 110-53, August 2007.

The Board has two purposes:

(1) To review and analyze actions the executive branch takes to protect the Nation from terrorism, ensuring the need for such actions is balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties; and

(2) To ensure that liberty concerns are appropriately considered in the development and implementation of laws, regulations, and policies related to efforts to protect the Nation against terrorism.