[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 172 (Sunday, November 23, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2428-E2429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2417, INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR 
                            FISCAL YEAR 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 20, 2003

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise with great concerns over the 
Intelligence Authorization Conference Report. I do not agree that 
Members of Congress should vote in favor of an authorization that most 
know almost nothing about--including the most basic issue of the level 
of funding.
  What most concerns me about this conference report, though, is 
something that should outrage every single American citizen. I am 
referring to the stealth addition of language drastically expanding FBI 
powers to secretly and without court order snoop into the business and 
financial transactions of American citizens. These expanded internal 
police powers will enable the FBI to demand transaction records from 
businesses, including auto dealers, travel agents, pawnbrokers and 
more, without the approval or knowledge of a judge or grand jury. This 
was written into the bill at the 11th hour over the objections of 
members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would normally have 
jurisdiction over the FBI. The Judiciary Committee was frozen out of 
the process. It appears we are witnessing a stealth enactment of the 
enormously unpopular ``Patriot II'' legislation that was first leaked 
several months ago. Perhaps the national outcry when a draft of the 
Patriot II act was leaked has led its supporters to enact it one piece 
at a time in secret. Whatever the case, this is outrageous and 
unacceptable. I urge each of my colleagues to join me in rejecting this 
bill and its incredibly dangerous expansion of Federal police powers.
  I also have concerns about the rest of the bill. One of the few 
things we do know about this final version is that we are authorizing 
even more than the president has requested for the intelligence 
community. The intelligence budget seems to grow every year, but we 
must ask what we are getting for our money. It is notoriously difficult 
to assess the successes of our intelligence apparatus, and perhaps it 
is unfair that we only hear about its failures and shortcomings. 
However, we cannot help but be concerned over several such failures in 
recent years. Despite the tens of billions we spend on these myriad 
intelligence agencies, it is impossible to ignore the failure of our 
federal intelligence community to detect and prevent the September 11 
attacks. Additionally, it is becoming increasingly obvious that our 
intelligence community failed completely to accurately assess the 
nature of the

[[Page E2429]]

Iraqi threat. These are by any measure grave failures, costing us 
incalculably in human lives and treasure. Yet from what little we can 
know about this bill, the solution is to fund more of the same. I would 
hope that we might begin coming up with new approaches to our 
intelligence needs, perhaps returning to an emphasis on the proven 
value of human intelligence and expanded linguistic capabilities for 
our intelligence personnel.
  I am also concerned that our scarce resources are again being 
squandered pursuing a failed drug war in Colombia, as this bill 
continues to fund our disastrous Colombia policy. Billions of dollars 
have been spent in Colombia to fight this drug war, yet more drugs than 
ever are being produced abroad and shipped into the United States--
including a bumper crop of opium sent by our new allies in Afghanistan. 
Evidence in South America suggests that any decrease in Colombian 
production of drugs for the US market has only resulted in increased 
production in neighboring countries. As I have stated repeatedly, the 
solution to the drug problem lies not in attacking the producers abroad 
or in creating a militarized police state to go after the consumers at 
home, but rather in taking a close look at our seemingly insatiable 
desire for these substances. Until that issue is addressed we will 
continue wasting billions of dollars in a losing battle.
  In conclusion, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in rejecting 
this dangerous and expensive bill.

                          ____________________