Date: 2005-07-21
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding nie this time. This is an important day for us today. not just because of the explosions that have taken place in London today or those that took place several weeks ago. but rather because of 9/11 and our response to that wakeup call of the war on terrorism. The Preamble to the United States Constitution posits that both the provision for the common defense and the need to secure the blessings of liberty are central to the constitutional order. Freedom presumes security. The converse is equally true. In the delicate balance of these important interests. Our concern for liberty must not discount the consequences of a failure to keep Americans secure from another terrorist attack. While it is important to avoid hyperbole on such a serious matter. the very nature of American life and the traditional regard for liberty could itself be threatened. It is. therefore. imperative that principles that we take an oath to uphold not be reduced to empty platitudes. Rather. they must be applied to the facts which confront us in the war on terrorism. The 12 oversight hearings conducted by the Committee on the Judiciary produced no evidence of abuse relating to the act itself. I hope other Members have taken the time to go to the .Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. as I have. to review the documents that are filed pursuant to the PATRIOT Act by the Justice Department. to see for themselves whether or not they have found any evidence of abuse. I did that. Those are available to -any Member who wants to go over there as long as they make arrangements. And I keep hearing time and time again that. even though the Justice Department has not found any abuses. they are out there. It reminds me of those people who used to find communists under every bed: We know they are out there. we know they are there somewhere. And I have heard on the floor people reciting: Well. the IG for the Justice Department has -not found them. we have not found them. but we know they are there. Certainly our debate should be above that. The provisions contained in the chairmans bill and the amendments adopted by the Committe6 on the Judiciary provide additional protections against any possible abuse in the future. The sunset of section 206 dealing with roving wiretaps and section 215. which has been referred to. was adopted by the full committee. The bill specifically requires that the government meet a relevant standard when applying for a court order for records of U.S. citizens under 215. Remember. it is an application to a court for an order. We have put in the statute the relevant standard. which was the practice we were told. but people wanted more. We have put that in there. The chairmans bill. coupled with an amendment adopted by the full committee. explicitly provides that the subject of a court order under section 215 would have the right to consult with an attorney with respect to the order. The amendment at committee clarified that a recipient of such an order could disclose this information not only to comply with the order but to challenge it. On these and other parts of this bill. we have done the work in the committee to deal with the problems that have been suggested.