As more and more has come out about the scope of American surveillance programs, lawmakers are realizing that they don’t know very much about what exactly is going on.

In a new letter published Monday, the eight members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have written to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community calling for a “comprehensive review” of law enforcement and intelligence agencies' practices. In light of what the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has called “substantial misrepresentations,” the senators hope to shed some light on this dark part of American surveillance capability.

The letter specifically refers to the two pillars of the government’s strategy, Section 215 of the Patriot Act and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Section 215 is the provision that gives the government the authority to demand domestic “business records,” including call metadata and other records from Verizon and likely other telcos. Section 702, meanwhile, describes the rules for targeting non-Americans outside the United States.

The senators specifically ask the Intelligence Community to review its policies over the last three years, in particular:

the use and implementation of Section 215 and Section 702 authorities, including the manner in which information—and in particular, information about US persons—is collected, retained, analyzed, and disseminated; applicable minimization procedures and other relevant procedures and guidelines, including whether they are consistent across agencies and the extent to which they protect the privacy rights of U.S. persons; any improper or illegal use of the authorities or information collected pursuant to them; an examination of the effectiveness of the authorities as investigative and intelligence tools.

If completed thoroughly, this report could provide one of the most comprehensive examinations of American surveillance power to date. However, it will be a while even if it happens. The report is due “no later than December 31, 2014.”