USPIS Surveillance Protection Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2921 To prohibit funds from being used to implement the Internet Covert Oper- ations Program under the United States Postal Inspection Service, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2021 Mr. GAETZ (for himself, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. BUCK, Mr. PERRY, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. GOSAR, and Mrs. GREENE of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To prohibit funds from being used to implement the Internet Covert Operations Program under the United States Postal Inspection Service, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘USPIS Surveillance 4 Protection Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2921.IH H2921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2921 IH (1) The United States Postal Service has been 1 operating a clandestine domestic surveillance pro- 2 gram of Americans’ social media activity known as 3 the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP). 4 (2) iCOP is part of the United States Postal 5 Inspection Service which is the law enforcement and 6 security component of USPS. 7 (3) The USP Inspection Service is operating 8 outside of its USPS jurisdiction when it monitors 9 internet users’ sharing of information as its jurisdic- 10 tion is narrowly defined within postal mail only. 11 (4) The iCOP program is a violation of privacy; 12 it encroaches upon the private lives of Americans 13 and seeks to curb constitutional rights of the First 14 Amendment. 15 (5) iCOP is not only illegal for operating out- 16 side of its stated jurisdiction, but also politically mo- 17 tivated in its target. 18 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FUNDING OF PROGRAM. 19 No Federal funds (including amounts available in the 20 Postal Service Fund established under section 2003 of 21 title 39, United States Code) may be used to implement, 22 conduct, or otherwise carry out the Internet Covert Oper- 23 ations Program operated by the United States Postal In- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2921.IH H2921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2921 IH spection Service or any other domestic surveillance pro- 1 gram with politically motivated targets. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:34 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2921.IH H2921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS