S1318-119

What This Bill Does

S. 1318 has two distinct policy tracks in the local clause corpus. The Senate engrossed text is the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act: it directs the American Battle Monuments Commission to run a 10-year program to identify Jewish American servicemembers from World War I and World War II who are buried in overseas U.S. military cemeteries under markers that incorrectly represent their religion, and to contact survivors and descendants. The House amendment text stored with the bill would replace or add a broader package called the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. That amendment adds civil-liberties review and penalties for FBI Section 702 query abuses, strengthens rules against targeting U.S. persons under FISA Section 702, extends Title VII FISA authorities to April 30, 2029, and bars the Federal Reserve from directly or indirectly issuing, studying, testing, developing, creating, or using a retail central bank digital currency.

Who Benefits and How

Families and descendants of covered Jewish American servicemembers benefit from the original Senate program because the American Battle Monuments Commission would have to identify servicemembers buried under incorrect non-Jewish markers and contact survivors and descendants. The bill authorizes $500,000 per year for 10 fiscal years and directs the Commission to seek an annual $500,000 contract with a qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has demonstrated capability in this identification work.

Nonprofit organizations with expertise in military burial, genealogy, religious heritage, or memorial restoration benefit because the Commission must prioritize capable nonprofits for those annual contracts. The American Battle Monuments Commission also gains a clear statutory program for correcting marker mistakes at overseas U.S. military cemeteries.

U.S. persons whose communications are queried under FISA Section 702 benefit from the House amendment provisions. The FBI would have to provide monthly written statements about U.S.-person queries to the Civil Liberties Protection Officer in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. That officer would review each statement and refer apparent civil-liberties, privacy, legal, rule, regulation, or abuse-of-authority problems to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.

Members of Congress and authorized staff benefit from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court access provision because the Attorney General would have to revoke older procedures and issue new procedures ensuring their access to proceedings of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review.

Civil-liberties oversight bodies benefit from additional work and authority. GAO would audit Section 702 targeting procedures and report whether they appropriately limit targeting to non-U.S. persons outside the United States. Congress would receive that audit and gain additional oversight information.

Commercial banks, other depository institutions, and people concerned about government-run retail digital currency benefit from the Anti-CBDC provisions because Federal Reserve Banks could not offer financial products or accounts directly to individuals, could not issue a central bank digital currency directly, and could not offer a CBDC indirectly through a financial institution or other intermediary. The Board of Governors and FOMC also could not use a CBDC for monetary policy. The bill preserves open, permissionless, private, dollar-denominated currency that fully preserves the privacy protections of coins and physical cash.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The American Battle Monuments Commission bears the administrative burden of creating and running the Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program for 10 fiscal years, seeking an annual qualified nonprofit contract, funding $500,000 per year, prioritizing expert nonprofit contractors, and managing outreach to survivors and descendants.

The FBI bears new Section 702 compliance burdens. It would have to provide monthly written statements about each U.S.-person query to the ODNI Civil Liberties Protection Officer, and FBI employees or officers who knowingly and willfully violate U.S.-person query procedures or falsify compliance could face fines and up to five years in prison.

The ODNI Civil Liberties Protection Officer and the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community bear review and investigative workloads. The Civil Liberties Protection Officer must review each FBI written statement, decide whether it meets required query standards, and refer possible abuses or violations; the Inspector General must determine whether referred queries violate law, rules, regulations, or constitute abuse of authority.

Federal intelligence officials bear tighter surveillance limits because the amendment reiterates that no U.S. Government officer or employee may intentionally target a U.S. person under Section 702 and points them instead to FISA Title I, Title III, Sections 703, 704, 705, or a criminal-procedure warrant when the target is a U.S. person. FBI query approvals also become stricter because the bill removes supervisor approval as an alternative to attorney approval for U.S.-person query terms.

The Federal Reserve bears the largest burden under the CBDC title. Federal Reserve Banks could not provide retail accounts or financial products to individuals, directly issue a CBDC, or indirectly offer one through intermediaries. The Board of Governors could not test, study, develop, create, or implement a CBDC, and the Board and Federal Open Market Committee could not use a CBDC to implement monetary policy.

Key Provisions

• Establishes a 10-year Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Program at the American Battle Monuments Commission to identify Jewish servicemembers buried overseas under incorrect markers and contact survivors and descendants.
• Authorizes $500,000 per fiscal year for the Commission and directs it to seek a one-year, $500,000 contract each year with a qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit, prioritizing organizations with demonstrated capability and expertise.
• Requires monthly civil-liberties review of FBI U.S.-person Section 702 query statements by the ODNI Civil Liberties Protection Officer and referral of possible abuses to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.
• Creates criminal penalties for FBI employees or officers who knowingly and willfully violate Section 702 U.S.-person query procedures or falsify or materially misrepresent compliance, punishable by fines and up to five years imprisonment.
• Adds a statutory Fourth Amendment rule prohibiting intentional Section 702 targeting of U.S. persons and requiring the government to use other FISA orders, Section 703/704/705 authorities, physical-search authority, or a criminal-procedure warrant for U.S. persons.
• Requires the Attorney General to revoke existing FISC access procedures and issue new procedures ensuring specified Members of Congress and staff can access FISC and FISC Court of Review proceedings.
• Requires GAO to audit Section 702 targeting procedures, including technical mechanisms and operations, and report whether implementation appropriately limits targeting to non-U.S. persons outside the United States.
• Extends Title VII FISA authorities from April 30, 2026, to April 30, 2029.
• Prohibits Federal Reserve Banks from offering financial products or services directly to individuals, maintaining individual accounts, or issuing a central bank digital currency or substantially similar digital asset.
• Prohibits Federal Reserve Banks from indirectly offering a CBDC through a financial institution or other intermediary.
• Prohibits the Board of Governors from testing, studying, developing, creating, or implementing a CBDC, and prohibits the Board and FOMC from using a CBDC for monetary policy, while preserving open, permissionless, private dollar-denominated currency.