I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3171

To provide for an appropriate review of recently enacted legislation relating 

to terrorism to assure that powers granted in it do not inappropriately 

undermine civil liberties. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2003

Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mr. PAUL, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. GEORGE MILLER

of California, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. 

SOLIS, Mr. HONDA, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs. JONES of 

Ohio, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. LEE, Mr. STARK, Mr. 

FILNER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, and 

Mr. FARR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Select Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select), Education and the Workforce, Government 

Reform, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To provide for an appropriate review of recently enacted 

legislation relating to terrorism to assure that powers 

granted in it do not inappropriately undermine civil liberties.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Benjamin Franklin 

3 True Patriot Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Benjamin Franklin stated: ‘‘Those who 

7 would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little 

8 temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safe9 ty.’’. 

10 (2) The First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, 

11 and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States 

12 Constitution were established to protect the civil 

13 rights and liberties of all Americans in perpetuity. 

14 (3) Federal policies adopted since September 

15 11, 2001, including provisions in the USA PA16 TRIOT Act (Public Law 107–56) and related execu17 tive orders, regulations, and actions threaten funda18 mental rights and liberties, including the First, 

19 Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth 

20 Amendments to the Constitution by—

21 (A) authorizing the indefinite incarceration 

22 of noncitizens based on mere suspicion, and the 

23 indefinite incarceration of citizens designated by 

24 the President as ‘‘enemy combatants’’ without 

25 access to counsel or meaningful recourse to the 

26 Federal courts; 
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1 (B) limiting the traditional authority of 

2 Federal courts to curb law enforcement abuse 

3 of electronic surveillance in antiterrorism inves4 tigations and ordinary criminal investigations; 

5 (C) expanding the authority of Federal 

6 agents to conduct so-called ‘‘sneak and peek’’ or 

7 ‘‘black bag’’ searches, in which the subject of 

8 the search warrant is unaware that his or her 

9 property has been searched; 

10 (D) granting law enforcement and intel11 ligence agencies broad access to personal med12 ical, financial, library, and education records 

13 with little if any judicial oversight; 

14 (E) chilling constitutionally protected 

15 speech through overbroad definitions of ‘‘ter16 rorism’’; 

17 (F) creating divisions between immigrant 

18 communities and the police that protect them 

19 by encouraging involvement of State and local 

20 police in enforcement of Federal immigration 

21 law; and the police that protect them; 

22 (G) permitting the FBI to conduct surveil23 lance of religious services, internet chatrooms, 

24 political demonstrations, and other public meet25 ings of any kind without having any evidence 
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1 that a crime has been or may be committed; 

2 and 

3 (H) mandating the closure of certain immi4 gration removal hearings, including denying 

5 judges the authority to reject stays of release 

6 where bond has been ordered and denying non7 citizens the right to a bond hearing. 

8 (4) Future legislation, such as legislation draft9 ed entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act 

10 (DSEA) or PATRIOT II, contains a multitude of 

11 new and sweeping law enforcement and intelligence 

12 gathering powers many of which are not related to 

13 terrorism, and would severely dilute and undermine 

14 many basic constitutional rights as well as disturb 

15 our unique system of checks and balances by—

16 (A) diminishing personal privacy by remov17 ing important checks on government surveil18 lance authority; 

19 (B) reducing the accountability of govern20 ment to the public by increasing government se21 crecy; 

22 (C) expanding the definition of ‘‘terrorism’’ 

23 in a manner that threatens the constitutionally 

24 protected rights of Americans; and 
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1 (D) seriously eroding the right of all per2 sons to due process of law. 

3 (5) The above new and unprecedented powers 

4 pose threats to all Americans and particularly to the 

5 civil rights and liberties of the residents of our Na6 tion who are Arab, Muslim, or of South Asian de7 scent. 

8 SEC. 3. NINETY-DAY REVIEW PERIOD. 

9 Each provision of law, regulation, or other policy di10 rective listed in sections 4 through 10, and any amend11 ments made by that provision, shall cease to have effect 

12 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. Dur13 ing this 90-day period, the Congress may, at the request 

14 of the President, hold hearings to determine whether a 

15 particular section should be removed from the list in sec16 tion 4. 

17 SEC. 4. PROVISIONS IN THE USA PATRIOT ACT. 

18 The provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act (Public 

19 Law 107–56) to which section 3 applies are: 

20 (1) Section 213, relating to ‘‘sneak and peak 

21 searches’’. 

22 (2) Section 214, relating to the use of pen reg23 isters for foreign intelligence purposes. 

24 (3) Section 215, relating to the obtaining by the 

25 Government of certain business records. 
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1 (4) Section 216, relating to the use of pen reg2 isters in criminal cases. 

3 (5) Section 218, relating to the Foreign Intel4 ligence Surveillance Act. 

5 (6) Section 411, relating to new grounds for de6 portation. 

7 (7) Section 412, relating to mandatory deten8 tion of certain aliens. 

9 (8) Section 505, relating to national security 

10 letters. 

11 (9) Section 507, relating to educational records. 

12 (10) Section 508, relating to collection and dis13 closure of individually identifiable information under 

14 the National Education Statistics Act of 1994. 

15 (11) Section 802, relating to the definition of 

16 domestic terrorism. 

17 SEC. 5. PROVISIONS OF AVIATION SECURITY ACT EXCLUD18 ING PERMANENT RESIDENT ALIENS FROM 

19 BEING BAGGAGE CHECKERS. 

20 Section 3 also applies to section 44935(e)(2)(A)(ii) 

21 of title 49, United States Code. 

22 SEC. 6. HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002 PROVISIONS. 

23 Section 3 also applies to the following provisions of 

24 the Homeland Security Act of 2002: 
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1 (1) Section 214, relating to an exemption from 

2 the Freedom of Information Act. 

3 (2) Section 871, relating to an exemption from 

4 the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

5 SEC. 7. IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS PROVISIONS. 

6 Section 3 also applies to the following provisions of 

7 regulations: 

8 (1) The regulation found at 66 Federal Reg9 ister 48334–35 (September 20, 2001) relating to 

10 time held without charges. 

11 (2) The regulation found at 66 Federal Reg12 ister 54909–12 (October 31, 2001) relating to auto13 matic stays for the Government in immigration 

14 hearings. 

15 (3) The so-called ‘‘Creppy memo’’ that man16 dates closed immigration hearings in certain cases, 

17 and 67 Federal Register 54878 (August 26, 2002) 

18 relating to restructuring appeals. 

19 (4) Any legal opinion or regulation that in20 creases the powers of the Attorney General to au21 thorize State or local law enforcement officers to ex22 ercise Federal immigration enforcement beyond 

23 those given in 8 CFR Part 2 or 28 CFR Part 65. 

24 (5) The regulation found at 67 Federal Reg25 ister 52584 (August 12, 2002), relating to registra-
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1 tion and monitoring of certain aliens, and all notices 

2 published pursuant to that regulation. 

3 SEC. 8. ATTORNEY-CLIENT MONITORING. 

4 Section 3 also applies to the regulation found at 66 

5 Federal Register 55063, relating to monitoring conversa6 tions between attorneys and clients. 

7 SEC. 9. SECRECY ORDERS. 

8 Section 3 also applies to the memorandum of Attor9 ney General Ashcroft dated October 12, 2001 and relating 

10 to the disclosure of documents under the Freedom of In11 formation Act. 

12 SEC. 10. THORNBURG GUIDELINES ON RELIGIOUS INSTITU13 TION SPYING. 

14 Section 3 also applies to any regulations having the 

15 effect of changing the effect of the Attorney General’s 

16 Guidelines on General Crimes, Racketeering Enterprise 

17 and Domestic Security/Terrorism Investigations approved 

18 by Attorney General Dick Thornburg for the Department 

19 of Justice on March 21, 1989.

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