[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1512-S1513]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE PATRIOT ACT

  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak about the 
war on terror, progress in Iraq, and the PATRIOT Act. In spite of the 
negative press you see on the nightly news, Iraq is progressing toward 
the goal of being independent, free, and democratic. It has been nearly 
3 years since our brave men and women in the military and our other 
agencies freed a people from the grip of a tyrannical and murderous 
dictator and began to work to establish a democratic society in the 
heart of the Middle East. In doing so, they are also making the world 
and all of us much safer.

  Since then, the people of Iraq have set up a constitutional 
government and braved death by voting in free elections.
  Surely more remains to be done, but let there be no doubt, progress 
is being made. But challenges remain. We recognize that and we must.
  The recent bombing of a mosque in Samarra has highlighted the 
challenges Iraq continues to face. Who did it?
  Following the attack, a prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric, al-Sistani, 
recognizing the hallmarks of al-Qaida, called, for the first time, for 
street demonstrations against the bombing, and thousands of his angry 
supporters protested, shouting slogans against al-Qaida and its 
supporters, accusing them of fueling hatred and violence, which is 
surely what they did.
  News of the attack only underscores why we are in Iraq and what is at 
stake. When our delegation met with Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd leaders 
last month in Baghdad, those leaders recognized, as our able Ambassador 
emphasized, the dangers of sectarian violence. They committed to work 
together, knowing that they have to bring about a national unity 
government.
  Recent news reports suggest that with the intervention of enlightened 
leaders such as al-Sistani, people are beginning to work together 
again. But the disturbing news of the bombing of the mosque and 
resulting reactions and killings simply seems to embolden all the hand-
wringing naysayers who have incessantly talked of civil war in Iraq and 
American withdrawal. A greater lesson, however, lies within this tragic 
development.
  Simply put, what is the alternative?
  Is America to retreat from Iraq and simply seek to be left alone and 
leave the world's problems to others to fix?
  In the age of bin Laden, al-Zarqawi, and al-Sistani, that is a course 
America and the world cannot afford to take. We should have learned our 
lesson on 9/11.
  As the Wall Street Journal recently pointed out, the fact is that 
under the Bush administration's policy, four democratic governments 
have come to power in the Middle East--Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and 
Palestine. Yes these democracies will face serious challenges along the 
way, from insurgents to bloody ethnic feuding.

[[Page S1513]]

  These are very serious challenges, and we are witnessing these 
challenges right now.
  Let us be blunt. There is always the possibility that a murderous 
dictator can come to power in a democracy. That is how Hitler got in, 
in Germany. No one said this approach is perfect. It isn't, especially 
when Hamas wins in Palestine. But democracy isn't supposed to be 
perfect or easy or smooth. It was not such as we set up our Government.
  But what is the alternative to promoting democracy, no matter how 
great the challenges become? I submit there is no viable alternative. 
It is democracy, and only democracy, that will offer these countries 
the possibility of greater civic freedoms, greater economic freedoms, 
and the hope for a politically moderate future.
  It is only because of American leadership, our brave soldiers, our 
brave civilians, and the hopeful leadership, the enlightened leadership 
of people such as Hamid Karzai, Jalal Talabani, and Saad Hariri that 
these countries and their people stand a chance of a better life and 
the world stands a chance to be a safer place. Along with it, America 
stands a chance of having important friends in a part of the world that 
in the past has been no friend to America.
  Some of my colleagues have said we need to get out of Iraq. I agree--
as soon as we train the Iraqi military and the police to ensure 
security but not until that is done.
  But even when Iraq is stabilized, we will continue to see the threat 
of violence from the Islamofascists such as al-Qaida, Ansar al-Islam, 
Jamia Islamia.
  As President Bush warned, this is going to be a decade-long war. 
Thus, our battles will go on overseas to deny foreign safe havens to 
murderous terrorist groups.
  At home, the threat is still grim. And with recent disclosures, 
regrettably, of our most sensitive intelligence, according to CIA 
Director Porter Goss, we have experienced very severe damage to our 
capabilities.
  It is even more important now that we provide our domestic law 
enforcement agencies the tools they need. That is why it is imperative 
we pass the PATRIOT Act as soon as possible. It is past time that we do 
so. 9/11 was not so long ago that we should have forgotten what it felt 
like that day.
  You know and I know what it was like. We all need to remember. The 
results of hamstringing our domestic intelligence abilities are not so 
distant. The reasons we passed the PATRIOT Act have not gone away.
  I am glad that an overwhelming number of Senators will join together 
to provide our terror fighters with the tools they need. For those for 
whom this was a hard decision, I applaud your courage. However, our 
actions pale in comparison to the courage exercised by those of us who 
protect us every day. It is to them we give these tools, to them we 
entrust our safety, to them we owe our freedoms, to them we owe our 
lives.
  Why would we not give them the tools they need to hold terror at bay? 
Why should we slow their hunt for terror suspects here at home? Why 
would we take from them the tools that have aided in the capture of 
over 400 terrorist suspects?
  Renewing the PATRIOT Act will do this and more. It strikes a balance 
between national security and personal liberties. In the words of our 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle, it is a better bill now than 
it was before.
  Negotiators have addressed many concerns. A balance has been struck 
on national security letters. Nondisclosure requirements prevent 
terrorists from learning the progress of investigations and 
investigative techniques. New language allows recipients of NSL letters 
to overturn the nondisclosure requirements, if a judge finds there is 
no reason to believe that disclosures may endanger the national 
security of the United States, interfere with criminal, 
counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigation, interfere with 
diplomatic relations or endanger the life or physical safety of any 
person.
  Could we allow anything else?
  Language was added clarifying that libraries, where functioning in 
their traditional roles, are not subject to national security letters. 
The agreement removes the requirement that a person inform the FBI of 
the identity of any attorney to whom disclosure was made or will be 
made to obtain legal advice or assistance.

  For those of us who care about port security--quite a few people have 
been talking about it--this legislation includes the Reducing Crime and 
Terrorism at America's Seaports Act of 2005.
  Those who join me in supporting this measure will make it a Federal 
crime to use fraud or false pretenses to enter America's ports; 
establish a new, general Federal crime to interfere forcibly with 
inspections of vessels by Federal law enforcement or resist arrest or 
provide law enforcement officers with false information; add 
``passenger vessels'' to the forms of mass transit protected against 
terrorist attacks under Federal law; make it a Federal crime to place 
any substance or device in the navigable waters of the United States 
with the intent to damage a vessel or its cargo or to interfere with 
maritime commerce; and make it a Federal crime to transport explosives, 
biological, chemical, radioactive weapons or nuclear material aboard a 
vessel in the United States, in waters subject to U.S. jurisdiction on 
the high seas or aboard a vessel of the United States.
  In addition, I care very deeply about fighting the drug scourge 
sweeping rural America, especially in the Midwest. Folks in my State 
know all too well that methamphetamine is perhaps the most deadly, 
fiercely addictive, and rapidly spreading drug the United States has 
known. It is cheap, potent, and available everywhere.
  During the past decade, while law enforcement officers continue to 
bust record numbers of clandestine labs, methamphetamine use in some 
communities has increased by as much as 300 percent.
  The PATRIOT Act reauthorization includes the most comprehensive 
antimeth package ever introduced in the Congress by my colleagues 
Senator Jim Talent of Missouri and Senator Dianne Feinstein of 
California. This Combat Meth Act will make certain legitimate consumers 
have access to the medicine they need while cutting off the meth cooks 
from the large amounts of ingredients they need to cook meth.
  For all of these reasons, we must reauthorize the PATRIOT Act now. 
Our terror fighters cannot wait, our ports cannot wait, and our 
communities suffering from the scourge of meth cannot wait.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nevada is 
recognized.

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