Date: 2005-12-14
Speaker: ZOE LOFGREN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I would just note the most important thing in the PATRIOT Act is the sharing of informatiofi between law enforcement and intelligence. I support that reauthorization. I am a member of the Judiciary Committee. a member of the Homeland Security Committee. The Department of Justice has stonewalled Congress on telling us how they are using these powers. I am a member of the conference committee. Republicans met secretly and separately away from Democrats on the conference committee. We have failed to cure the problems in the bill. and we have missed an opportunity. Mr. Speaker. I think its clear that the primary benefit of the USA PATRIOT Act we passed in 2001 has been the sharing of information between criminal investigators andintelligence officials it enabled. I support authorizing that information sharing capability in the original PATRIOT Act. and I support its reauthorization today. But this conference report on reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act fails in important ways. Following the attacks of 9/11. this Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act to give our law enforcement and -intelligence agencies new powers to fight terrorism. I voted for that law. but only after securing support for sunset provisions that allowed this Congress to revisit these issues under less trying circumstances. Congress has not done its job in providing the thorough review we need of the PATRIOT Act. Nor has the Bush administration done its job in providing Us the information we need to properly evaluate the .PATRIOT Act. I have repeatedly sought access from the Department of Justice to the national security letters or NSLs it has issued under section 505 of the act. and underlying materials regarding its use of the material witness statute. I have been seeking access to these materials for over 6 months now. with no response from DOJ. I wrote to them againlast month seeking this information. and again received no response. This is vital information about DOJs actual use of PATRIOT Act powers. information which DOJ steadfastly refuses to. provide. Yet with this conference report Congress blindly an arbitrary deadline. my colleagues join me in reauthorizes and makes permanent many of voting for more time to turn this into a better these same powers. bill. In fact. through the cracks in DOJs veil of Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker. I yield 3 secrecy. weve begun to find some information minutes to the gentleman from North about the PATRIOT Act. Weve found out from Carolina . a member of the whistleblowers that the FBI issues more than Judiciary and Transportation Commit30.000 national security letters each year. tees. These are tens of thousands of letters. never Mr. COBLE. Mr. Speaker. on 9/11. evil reviewed by a judge. demanding information terrorists. murderers. if you will.. inon countless people.. the vast majority of spired and motivated by fanaticism and whom may be Americans innocent of any ter- hatred attacked our country and nearrorist activity. We dont know how many pri- ly 3.000 innocent Americans expired. It vate lives are being swept up in these NSLs. would be a simple matter to overreact because DOJ wont tell us. to such an attack. but our response. for This bill does not correct the problems with the most part. Mr. Speaker. has been national security.letters. It creates a new proc- thorough and deliberate. ess for judicial review. but leaves that review The Judiciary Subcommittee on subject to an extremely vague standard. There Crime. Terrorism and Homeland Secuare no requirements for law enforcement to rity alone conducted nine hearings. "minimize" its collection of NSLs. that is. coupled with two additional hearings theres no requirement for DOJ to segregate before the full House Judiciary Cointhe vast amount of information collected on in- mittee. Other committees as well connocent Americans unconnected to any terrorist ducted hearings. So this seems to me activity. An audit is provided which would refutes the charge that this act has allow DOJ to freely continue stockpiling infor- been hurriedly rammed through the mation on Americans without providing any Congress. standard. I spoke earlier oii this floor. Mr. This bill also adopts too weak a standard for Speaker. of a constituent who urged law enforcement to engage in business me to lead an effort to repeal the PArecords searches under section 215 of the PA- TRIOT Act. When I asked him to cite TRIOT- Act. The Senate passed unanimously examples where civil liberties had been what I thought was a very reasonable stand- abused. he could offer none. Other opard for law enforcement to meet in order to ponents of the act have likewise been conduct these searches. The Senate required unable to document evidence of abuses. that these searches actually be relevant to an Some have said. well. these points are ongoing terrorism investigation and related to irrelevant. *They are not irrelevant at the activities of an agent of a foreign power. all. Mr. Speaker. when you are talking But the conference report adopts a presump- to people who oppose the act. but yet tion of relevance that would essentially tie are unable to offer evidence to support judges hands and force them to grant any re- their opposition. I think it is relevant. quested searches. indeed. Adoption of 4year. rather than 7year. sun- Finally. Mr. Speaker. I am going to sets on three provisions regarding business touch on a point that I think many records -searches. roving wiretaps. and so- Americans have inadvertently ignored. called "lone wolf" terrorists acting as agents of and that is the fact that there are in foreign powers is positive. Frankly. I would excess of 360 ports in the United States have liked to see 4year sunsets applied to and this bill provides basic and muchmore provisions of the PATRIOT Act. such as needed protection thereto. It is clear the provisions regarding NSLs. I believe these that our ports and harbors are signifisunsets provide Congress an important oppor- cant and appealing targets for terrorist tunity to review how the PATRIOT Act is actu- attacks. We cannot afford to leave ally being used. Given how reluctant DOJ has these areas unprotected or hamstring been to.share information with us. these sun- law enforcement efforts to provide sets really provide the main source of lever- basic security against terrorists. age Congress has over the Department of Mr. Speaker. I am not trying to be a Justice to obtain information we. should be Chicken Little and shouting that the provided as an equal branch of government. sky is falling. but just because we have Mr. Speaker. Im very disappointed that this not been attacked subsequently since 9/ legislation has removed the provisions we 11 does not indicate to me that these passed in the House providing for additional terrorists. I call them murderers. they funding for first responders. This is vitally are murderers. are asleep at the switch. needed funding that local first responders They are continuing to plot. and we. need in the event of another terrorist attack or cannot turn a blind eye to them. other disaster. This conference report drops all Is this act perfect? No. Not many of these provisions passed by the House. acts that find their way through this For these reasons. Mr. Speaker. I urge my Congress are perfect. But it is a piece colleagues to join me in voting against this of legislation that should be enacted. conference report. Instead of rushing this bill and I urge supoort. . to conclusion. we should give ourselves the Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker. I yield time we need to get the PATRIOT Act right. I. 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from along with some of my colleagues. have intro- California . duced legislation thal would allow us to reau- Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker. the thorize the existing PATRIOT Act authorities President and his admi.nistration confor another 3 months. to take the time we tinue its rhetoric that anyone calling. need to correct the many deficiencies still re- for a withdrawal of troops or quesmaining in this conference report. I urge that. tioning the intelligence that led us instead of voting for a bad bill in .order to meet into the Iraq war is unpatriotic. while. on the other hand. using this war as an excuse. a PATRIOT Act was passed that recklessly violates our civil liberties and attacks the very freedoms our troops in- Iraq are told that they are fighting to protect. This administration and the leadership in this very House we are standing in has tried every trick in the book to spread the blame. pass the buck on this misguided war. They continue to filter the debate in our very own country and to discredit those who disagree with them. This bill they want us to pass today would continue to limit our constitutional freedoms in our very own country. Though they did not seem to care one bit about the facts before 9/11. they now believe the United States will benefit from hoarding insignificant and illgotten information on innocent Americans. They believe that this makes us a safer Nation. If you want to talk about dishonesty. look at this administrations policies that have led us to ignore facts in order to manipulate the very policies that fly in the face of our own honesty. and this is an administration that also pays for "canned" news overseas. The -real patriots have been those who stand up and question the misleading intelligence anddishonest tactics that got us into this war. those who have challenged the PATRIOT Act and its impact on the civil rights and civil liberties of every American. Actually. it is patriotic to question how the PATRIOT Act affects the very rights that we live under in this country of ours. Vote "no" on this PATRIOT Act.