We do not seek changes in the underlying protections in the law for the privacy of law-abiding citizens. The information captured by the proposed technology-neutral standard would be limited to the kind of information you might find in a phone bill, such as the phone numbers dialed by a particular telephone. The content of these communications would remain off-limits to monitoring by intelligence authorities, except for under current legal standards. Our proposal would allow a federal court to issue a single order that would apply to all providers in a communications chain, including those outside the region where the court is located. We need speed in identifying and tracking down terrorists.
Time is of the essence.
The ability of law enforcement to trace communications into different jurisdictions without obtaining an additional court order can be the difference between life and death for American citizens. We are not asking the law to expand, just to grow as technology grows. This information has historically been available when criminals used pre-digital technologies. Second, we must make fighting terrorism a national priority in our criminal justice system. In his speech to Congress, President Bush said that Osama bin Laden's terrorist group, Al Qaeda, is to terror what the mafia is to organized crime.