Date: 2010-02-25
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the gentleman for the generous provision of time. Mr. Speaker. when we were reauthorizing the PATRIOT Act in 2005. or extending it. I authored in committee the sunset provisions that subjected these three provisions of the PATRIOT Act to further consideration by the House. That sunset was up last year. And so. rather than seriously consider it and thoughtfully proceed as to whether it ought to be permanent or not. we kicked the can down the road by extending it a year. And then we came just before Christmas up against it. once again. and we extended it for 2 months. And now. here we are. 3 days before the expiration of these provisions. and we are going to have a temporary extension. a year. not 2 months. but just a year. I would hope that we would consider an issue such as this as an important primary issue. Its almost as an afterthought. Just before we leave for Christmas. we extend it for 2 months. Now. were within 3 days of it expiring. we extend it for a year. Forgive me. but it almost sounds like were treating it like a burp after a big meal. something were kind of embarrassed about. something that happened. sort of involuntarily. as if we dont have control of this. Ive said on this floor before that were certainly making sure that no post office in America goes unnamed or unrenamed. But at the same time. we deal with this issue. which is crucially important. Our Judiciary Committee considered the reauthorization of these provisions. and we reauthorized. by our bill. the business records section. We reauthorized the roving wiretap provision. although we made some changes in that from current law. which I did not support. but nonetheless. that was it. But we failed to extend the lone wolf provision. And let me tell you the thinking on that. The argument was. we didnt need the lone wolf provision because it had never been used. Whats the lone wolf provision? It allows us to apply the intelligence -gathering authorities that we have in the overall law to individuals that we cannot. at that point in time. determine are actually involved with a foreign country. that is. associated with a foreign country. or with a known terrorist organization. And so they said it had never come up before. So we failed to vote it out of Judiciary Committee. That was in the morning. about 12:30. just after noon. What happened later that day? The massacre at Fort Hood. A lone wolf. Now. admittedly not someone who would be under the PATRIOT Act because hes an American citizen. but my point is. we have to be concerned about lone wolves. And what about Mr. Abdulmutallab? If we had had information and been able to connect some of the dots early on. we would have not been able to prove initially that he was necessarily associated with any other group. maybe inspired by another group. He would actually come under the definition of a lone wolf. And yet the Judiciary Committee said. well. were going to deprive our intelligence community of the powers under the law for those who are lone wolves. Thats why I say this needs full and vigorous debate. We need to consider the essence of these provisions. and we need to determine whether we believe it needs more than an extension of a single year. Does anybody on this floor truly believe that al Qaeda will give up in a year? Does anybody believe that those who are out there with the idea that they want to do harm to the United States. utilizing terror inspired by al Qaeda or others. are going to quit after this year? I would hope they would. I would hope we would defeat each and every one of them before the years out. But thats unrealistic. Lets understand. So. why were bringing this to the floor with only a singleyear provision is beyond me. If we take seriously our obligation to provide for the common defense. in this environment of a nonconventional war. asymmetric. as they like to say. undefined. compared to previous conflicts. where the enemy does not seek territorial advancement. but seeks the destruction of who we are and what we are. our institutions. and how we. in fact. act. This is a different world. Ive said on this floor before and Ill say it again. al Qaeda doesnt hate us and attack us because of Guantanamo. Al Qaeda hates us and attacks us because of the Statue of Liberty and everything it represents. [- 1200 And so I would hope that at some point in time we would come to this floor and have a serious. fullthroated debate on these three provisions of the PATRIOT Act as to whether they ought to be extended as a matter of permanent law or at least as a reasonable period of time5 years. 10 years. not single yearand not treated as an accident of legislative action. So I rise in support of the bill and the rule that allows the bill but in great disappointment that we are not doing all we could do to advance the cause of freedom and protection of the American people. This is better than nothing. but its not good enough.