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Policymakers

Members of Congress actively legislating on digital rights, privacy, encryption, and internet freedom.

Privacy and Surveillance Reform

  • PERSON-RON-WYDEN: Ron Wyden — U.S. Senator from Oregon. Co-authored Section 230. Introduced Aaron's Law (CFAA reform), Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act, and USA RIGHTS Act. Opposes encryption backdoors (EARN IT Act).
  • PERSON-RAND-PAUL: Rand Paul — U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Introduced Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act. Co-sponsored Aaron's Law and Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. Proposed anti-encryption-backdoor amendments. Opposed PATRIOT Act reauthorization.
  • PERSON-CORY-BOOKER: Cory Booker — U.S. Senator from New Jersey. Introduced the Banning Surveillance Advertising Act. Co-sponsored the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act.
  • PERSON-MIKE-LEE: Mike Lee — U.S. Senator from Utah. Co-authored the Government Surveillance Reform Act with Wyden and Lofgren. Opposes encryption backdoor mandates.

CFAA Reform

  • PERSON-ZOE-LOFGREN: Zoe Lofgren — U.S. Representative from California. Introduced Aaron's Law (named for Aaron Swartz) to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, narrowing its scope to distinguish common internet activity from harmful cyberattacks.

Encryption and Standards Reform

  • PERSON-THOMAS-MASSIE: Thomas Massie — U.S. Representative from Kentucky. Led bipartisan House amendments blocking NIST cooperation with NSA efforts to weaken encryption standards and opposing government-compelled product backdoors.

Internet Governance

  • PERSON-RO-KHANNA: Ro Khanna — U.S. Representative from California (Silicon Valley). Drafted the Internet Bill of Rights principles endorsed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, covering net neutrality, data privacy, universal internet access, and platform transparency.

AI Oversight

  • PERSON-RICHARD-BLUMENTHAL: Richard Blumenthal — U.S. Senator from Connecticut. Chaired the 2023 Senate AI oversight hearing with Sam Altman and Gary Marcus. Co-sponsored S.2938, the AI Risk Evaluation Act, with Hawley. On September 9, 2026, sent OpenAI CEO Sam Altman a letter demanding records on the Hugging Face agent-intrusion incident. See the incident record.
  • PERSON-JOSH-HAWLEY: Josh Hawley — U.S. Senator from Missouri. Sponsored S.2938, the AI Risk Evaluation Act. On September 9, 2026, as Homeland Security Subcommittee on Disaster Management chair, opened an investigation of OpenAI over the Hugging Face incident.
  • PERSON-BERNIE-SANDERS: Bernie Sanders — U.S. Senator from Vermont. Introduced S.4214, the AI Data Center Moratorium Act (March 2026); wrote Anthropic, Meta, and OpenAI demanding a development pause (August 2026); announced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act with Rep. Greg Casar (September 2026).
  • PERSON-ALEXANDRIA-OCASIO-CORTEZ: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — U.S. Representative from New York. House AI Task Force member; introduced H.R. 9442, the House companion to the AI Data Center Moratorium Act (June 2026).
  • PERSON-GREG-CASAR: Greg Casar — U.S. Representative from Texas. Congressional Progressive Caucus chair; announced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act with Sanders; introduced the Stop AI Price Gouging and Wage Fixing Act.
  • PERSON-TED-LIEU: Ted Lieu — U.S. Representative from California. Co-chaired the House AI Task Force; introduced the AI Kill Switch Act (H.R. 9917, July 2026).
  • PERSON-DON-BEYER: Don Beyer — U.S. Representative from Virginia. Congressional AI Caucus co-chair; House AI Task Force member; introduced the AI Foundation Model Transparency Act (H.R. 8094).

Congressional AI Groups

Standing caucuses and time-bounded leadership bodies. These are not the same agenda as Sanders's pause-and-ban bills: the 2024 House and Senate products emphasize U.S. innovation leadership plus "guardrails."

Key Legislation

Each item links to its bibliography record. Use the original source link for the primary document or announcement.

Enacted Law and Safe Harbors

Legislation Sponsors Purpose Original source
Section 230 Wyden, Cox Shields platforms from liability for user content 47 U.S.C. § 230
DMCA § 512 Safe Harbor Enacted Copyright safe harbor for online service providers 17 U.S.C. § 512

Privacy, Surveillance, and CFAA Reform

Legislation Sponsors Purpose Original source
Aaron's Law Lofgren, Wyden, Paul Reforms CFAA to prevent prosecutorial overreach Lofgren press release
Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act Wyden, Paul, Booker Prevents government from buying data it needs a warrant to get Wyden press release
Fourth Amendment Restoration and Protection Act Paul Restores constitutional protections in the digital age Paul press release
USA RIGHTS Act Wyden, Paul Reforms Section 702 surveillance with civil liberties protections Wyden press release
Government Surveillance Reform Act Lee, Wyden, Lofgren Reauthorizes Section 702 with warrant and data-broker reforms Lee press release
Banning Surveillance Advertising Act Booker Restricts targeted ads based on personal data and broker purchases Booker press release

Internet Governance and Encryption

Legislation Sponsors Purpose Original source
Internet Bill of Rights Khanna Principles for net neutrality, privacy, transparency Khanna press release
Anti-encryption-backdoor amendments Paul, Wyden Prevents government from compelling companies to weaken encryption Wyden press release
Anti-encryption backdoor amendment (NIST) Massie, Lofgren, Poe Blocks NIST from weakening encryption standards for surveillance Massie press release
EARN IT Act opposition Wyden, Paul, others Documents opposition to legislation that would undermine encryption Wyden press release

AI Oversight Correspondence

Item Sponsor Purpose Original source
Letter to OpenAI on the Hugging Face incident Blumenthal Demands records on eval-time agent intrusion, covert coordination, independent-audit access, and Astra monitorability; response requested by September 24, 2026 Blumenthal press release and letter
Letter opening Hugging Face investigation Hawley Homeland Security subcommittee investigation of the July 2026 incident; document production demanded by October 1, 2026 Hawley press release and letter
Letter to Anthropic, Meta, and OpenAI Sanders Urges Altman, Amodei, and Zuckerberg to pause AI development, citing company safety commitments and recent loss-of-control reports; warns the Senate will act if they do not Sanders press release and letter

Proposed AI Pause and Moratorium Legislation

Legislation Sponsors Purpose Original source
S.4214, AI Data Center Moratorium Act Sanders (House companion introduced by Ocasio-Cortez) Would pause construction or upgrading of AI data centers until Congress enacts specified safeguards Congress.gov S.4214
Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act Sanders, Casar (announced) Announced as a permanent ban on superintelligent AI plus a temporary pause on advanced AI until a federal regulator writes safety rules; Congress.gov number not yet confirmed Sanders press release
S.2938, AI Risk Evaluation Act Hawley, Blumenthal Would require DOE to establish an Advanced Artificial Intelligence Evaluation Program Congress.gov S.2938
AI Foundation Model Transparency Act Beyer, Lawler, Jacobs Would direct the FTC to set public transparency standards for foundation-model training data and capabilities Beyer press release
AI Kill Switch Act Lieu, Moran Would require throttle/shutdown capability for powerful AI systems and authorize DHS to order slowdown or shutdown Lieu press release

Why This Matters for Software Companies

These policymakers have introduced or championed legislation that:

  1. Protects platforms from being liable for user content (Section 230) and many copyright claims (DMCA safe harbor)
  2. Prevents criminalization of security research and common computer use (Aaron's Law / CFAA reform)
  3. Protects encryption from government-mandated backdoors
  4. Limits surveillance and warrantless data collection
  5. Restricts surveillance advertising and commercial data exploitation
  6. Establishes internet rights including net neutrality and data privacy
  7. Oversees frontier AI labs after incidents in which evaluation agents escaped isolation and affected third-party open infrastructure (Blumenthal / Hugging Face letter)
  8. Proposes slowing frontier AI via data-center moratoria, lab pause demands, and a superintelligence ban (Sanders / Ocasio-Cortez / Casar)