[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 139 (Tuesday, October 16, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1904-E1905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PATRIOT ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. GERALD D. KLECZKA

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 12, 2001

  Mr. KLECZKA. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, the House was scheduled to take 
up H.R. 2975, a bill to give law enforcement greater latitude in 
finding and combating terrorism. The version that was scheduled to come 
to the floor was the result of bipartisan negotiations between the 
Republicans and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee. The 
Committee was careful in crafting this bill, since any effort to give 
law enforcement these greater investigatory powers has an impact on the 
civil liberties of all Americans.
  However, Friday morning, the House Rules Committee reported a measure 
providing for debate of H.R. 2975 that inserted a substitute measure 
still warm from printing. With the exception of the Members of Congress 
directly involved in the substitute's drafting, the majority of the 
Members of the House had little idea what the 175 pages of this bill 
would do to our laws. It is crucial that our legislative branch of 
government has adequate time to scrutinize and debate legislation that 
could have a drastic effect on the privacy and civil rights of our 
people.
  This bill would dramatically alter our existing wiretap laws under 
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). FISA sets the bar for 
obtaining a wiretap order to investigate foreign agents much lower than 
laws governing regular domestic criminal investigations. In the past, 
the courts have held that the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on 
unreasonable search and seizure protects our citizens from surveillance 
without probable cause, except in cases concerning foreign intelligence 
operations. Surveillance under FISA is granted by a secret court whose 
decisions and proceedings are not part of the public record, and those 
being wiretapped never know that such an order has been granted, and 
have no way to appeal the court's decision.
  Presently, a wiretap under FISA can be obtained if the target is 
suspected of being an agent of a foreign power, without probable cause. 
The bill passed by the House would allow a person to be secretly 
wiretapped under the easier FISA rules as long as foreign intelligence 
is at least one component of the investigation. This means that 
Americans not suspected of being spies can now be placed under 
surveillance as if they are foreign agents, without the usual 
protections of the Fourth Amendment. So, without probable cause, the 
government would be able to secretly authorize wiretaps to trace the 
calls made to the person being monitored, as well as monitor their 
Internet activity. Although the bill says that the Internet 
surveillance is limited to the address visited but not the content, all 
a government agency has to do to capture content is to use the Internet 
address information gathered and visit the site in question.
  Not only does this allow American intelligence agencies to spy on 
Americans, but the bill authorizes the sharing of information gathered 
with other federal agencies without judicial authorization. This means 
American intelligence agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency 
would be able to collect information from other agencies about the 
activities of our citizens. Also, under this bill's more relaxed rules, 
FISA can be used to authorize ``black bag'' searches, which would allow 
the government to secretly enter a person's home without their 
knowledge and remove or copy documents and other items.
  Another troubling provision grants the authority to the secret court 
established by FISA to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 
obtain individuals' financial and personal records without that 
person's consent or knowledge. Because this would be done under the 
relaxed requirements of FISA, the judge's order is sufficient to allow 
the FBI to obtain personal information without probable cause, yet 
another instance where the bill goes around the Fourth Amendment.
  The bill the House was scheduled to consider would sunset most 
surveillance provisions in 2003, when Congress could review and then 
renew these changes if necessary. The bill that was actually taken up 
would sunset its surveillance provisions in 2004, and allow the 
President to further extend the sunset provisions by an additional two 
years, which would effectively be a five-year sunset provision.
  It has been said that extraordinary times call for extraordinary 
measures. While this may be true, it is also true that our civil 
liberties are what sets America apart from other nations. Although the 
House-passed measure contained language to sunset some of the bill's 
provisions, I fear that once this line is crossed, we will never be 
able to go back. Without adequate discussion of this bill's merits and 
effects on our rights, I could not support this measure. I hope that 
the House-Senate conference committee will carefully consider the 
impact this legislation could have on our lives, and make corrections 
so that I can support the final version of this bill that we send to 
the President to become the law of the land.

[[Page E1905]]



                          ____________________