Date: 2011-02-08
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

I thank the distinguished chairman and the ranking member of this committee. I want to remind my colleagues of a singly important moment when those of us who were Republican and Democrat came together after 9/11. and out of this Judiciary Committee came a singular initiative that dealt with the crisis which we are facing. I have in my hand the Constitution. and I am reminded that when the Founding Fathers came together and declared that we all were created equal. they. too. were concerned about treason. spying. the undermining of government. and maybe even the threat of violence. As we well know how this country came into being. we had to fight a war. yet they had in this Constitution the rights of the Fourth Amendment that we would be protected against unreasonable search and seizure. a Fifth Amendment of due process. and they believed that Americans should be protected. This bill. however. comes to the floor again without amendments. And Im very proud to say that over the series of my tenure on the Judiciary Committee I have submitted very vital and important amendments to protect the civil liberties of Americans. as well as to recognize the responsibility of all of us to secure this Nation. Im a member of the Homeland Security Committee. I am not unmindful of the everyday threats that we receive. but this bill would extend provisions that were created in 2005. that also were included in the intelligence reform bill. It extends a provision that allows for a roving electronic surveillance authority and a provision revising the definition of an "agent of foreign power" to include any nonU.S. person who engages in international terrorism or preparatory activities. also known as the "lone wolf." without protections. As a member of Homeland Security. I recognize that that is vital. but there needs to be a variety of protections. The other provisions. of course. are ones that invade privacy and create a lack of recognition that we have a Constitution to abide by. So I would ask my colleagues as we move on this legislation to remember it has not been amended. remember we have lived under a Constitution that protects civil liberties. and also remember it took a lawsuit to allow someone to say they had gotten a national security letter. We must do things in a constitutional manner. Mr. Speaker. and I would argue were not doing it in this legislative initiative. I ask my colleagues to vote "no" on this legislation. go back to the Judiciary Committee and abide by the Constitution. Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express my opposition to the H.R. 514. "To extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 relating to access to business records. and individual terrorists as agents." This bill would extend provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005. and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 through December 8. 2011. It extends a provision that allows a roving electronic surveillance authority. and a provision revising the definition of an "agent of a foreign power" to include any nonU.S. person who engages in international terrorism or preparatory activities. also known as the "lone wolf provision." It also grants government access to business records relating to a terrorist investigation. As a member of the Homeland Security Committee. I understand and appreciate the importance of national security. and the challenges we face as we strive to protect our nation from foreign threats. However. as an American citizen. I am deeply concerned when our Constitutional rights run the risk of being infringed upon in the name of national security. To win the war on terror. the United States must remain true to the founding architects of this democracy who created a Constitution which enshrined an inalienable set of rights. These Bills of Rights guarantee certain fundamental freedoms that cannot be limited by the government. One of these freedoms. the Fourth Amendment. is the right of the people to be secure in their persons. houses. papers. and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. We do not circumvent the Fourth Amendment. or any other provision in the United States Constitution. merely because it is inconvenient. While the PATRIOT Act is intended to improve our ability to protect our nation. it needs to be revised and amended to reflect the democratic principles that make this country the crown jewel of democracy. The bill before us today. however. does not do that. In fact. even the manner by which are even considering this bill. only days after introduction without any oversight hearings of markups. circumvents the process we have in place to allow for improvements and amendments to be made. Furthermore. this bill was considered last year in the 111 th Congress. and went through oversight hearings and two days of markup in the Judiciary Committee. Yet. none of those votedon. bipartisan amendments that resulted from those hearings are included in this bill. In those hearings. multiple concerns were raised about the breadth of the PATRIOT Act and the leeway it gives to infringe upon an individuals privacy and civil liberties. In the markup. I personally introduced amendments that would allow for greater transparency in the PATRIOT Act and enhanced protection against violation of individuals civil liberties. None of my amendments. or those introduced by any of my colleagues. are included in this legislation. None of the privacy concerns or civil liberty infringement issues that were raised in those hearings have even been addressed. I am deeply concerned that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are considering overlooking the very valid concerns of the American people. without so much as a hearing. We have been faced with this type of legislation before. On August 3. 2007. I stood before you on the House floor discussing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. FISA. another piece of law essential to combating the war on terror. but one that was in need of improvements to protect Americans constitutionally enshrined civil liberties. On that day. I said that. "we must ensure that our intelligence professionals have the tools that they need to protect our Nation. while also safeguarding the rights of lawabiding Americans." and I stand firmly behind that notion today. When we were considering FISA. there were Fourth Amendment concerns around secret surveillance and secret searches. which were kept permanently secret from the Americans whose homes and conversations were targeted. There were also concerns such secret searches intended for nonU.S. citizens. could be used to target Americans. I offered amendments to ensure that any surveillance of an American is done through established legal procedures pursuant to FISA and the FISA court authority. and to ensure that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is indispensable and would play a meaningful role in ensuring compliance with our Constitution. I stand here today urging my colleagues to consider allowing similar amendments to the PATRIOT Act that better protect Americans right to privacy before moving this legislation out of the House of Representatives and onto the other legislative body. The three expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act that H.R. 514 would extend overstep the bounds of the government investigative power set forth in the Constitution. One provision authorizes the government to obtain "any tangible thing" relevant to a terrorism investigation. even if there is no showing that the "thing" pertains to suspected terrorists or terrorist activities. This provision. which was addressed in the Judiciary Committee during the 111th Congress. runs afoul of the traditional notions of search and seizure. which require the government to show "reasonable suspicion" or "probable cause" before undertaking an investigation that infringes upon a persons privacy. Congress must ensure that things collected with this power have a meaningful nexus to suspected terrorist activity. If we do not take steps to improve this provision. then it should be allowed to expire. Another provision. known commonly as the "roving John Doe wiretap." allows the government to obtain intelligence surveillance orders that identify neither the person nor the facility to be tapped. Like the first provision. this. too. was addressed in the Judiciary Committee during the last Congress. and is also contrary to traditional notions of search and seizure. which require government to state "with particularity" what it seeks to search or seize. If this provision were given the opportunity to be amended and improved. it should be done so to mirror similar and longstanding criminal laws that permit roving wiretaps. but require the naming of a specific target. The third provision that H.R. 514 would extend is the "lone wolf provision. which permits secret intelligence surveillance of nonU.S. persons who are not affiliated with a foreign organization. This type of authorization. which is only granted in secret courts. is subject to abuse. and threatens our longtime understandings of the limits of the governments investigatory powers within the borders of the United States. Moreover. according to government testimony. this provision has never been used. Because of the potential for abuse created by this provision. and the lack of need for its existence. it. too. should be allowed to expire. All three of these provisions have been examined and amended in the past because they were in dire need of improvements to protect the rights of Americans. I was against these provisions. as written. in the past. and without amendments. I am still against them today. Finally. H.R. 514 fails to amend other portions of the PATRIOT act in dire need of reform. specifically. those issues relating to the issuance and use of national security letters. NSLs. NSLs permit the government to obtain the communication. financial and credit records of anyone deemed relevant to a terrorism investigation even if that person is not suspected of unlawful behavior. I repeat. even if that person is not suspected of unlawful behavior. As an American citizen. the security and safety of my constituency is pinnacle. but I will never stand for legislation that infringes on the basic rights afforded in our Constitution. When our founding fathers drafted the Constitution. after living under an oppressive regime in Britain. they ensured that the American people would never experience such subjugation. Where are the protective measures for our citizens in the PATRIOT act? Why are the measures addressed in the last Congress not included in the bill? Instead of reauthorizing these provisions. Congress should conduct robust. public oversight of all surveillance tools and craft reforms that will better protect private communications from overbroad government surveillance. There is nothing more important than providing the United States of America. especially our military and national security personnel. the right tools to protect our citizens and prevail in the global war on terror. Holding true to our fundamental constitutional principles is the only way to prove to the world that it is indeed possible to secure America while preserving our way of life. Because of the negative privacy implications of extending all of these provisions. I ask my colleagues to please join me in opposing H.R. 514. a bill to extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 relating to access to business records. and individual terrorists as agents. [From the American Civil Liberties Union. Aug. 10. 2010]