[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 8, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    USA PATRIOT ACT ADDITIONAL REAUTHORIZING AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 7, 2006

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of S. 2271, a 
bill to add civil liberty protections to the conference report on H.R. 
3199, the USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act. Although I voted against the 
Patriot Act in December, the Republican Leadership rammed it through 
Congress anyway. I welcome this opportunity to eliminate some of its 
most egregious provisions and to further enhance civil liberties 
protections. I will keep fighting to improve this law so that we can 
find the right balance between waging the war on terrorism and 
protecting the rights of the American people.
  S. 2271 improves civil liberties in three ways. Under the Patriot 
Act, libraries, bookstores, and other recipients of court orders for 
information are bound by a nondisclosure requirement. These 
organizations are unable to tell the target of the investigation that 
records have been obtained on the public, if they believe the search is 
unwarranted. As currently written, the Patriot Act prevents appropriate 
oversight to affirm the need for such requests for information. S. 2271 
allows recipients of these court orders to challenge the nondisclosure 
requirement, which helps protect civil liberties by placing a check on 
unrestricted use of these court orders and protects against unlawful 
search and seizure.
  As currently written, the Patriot Act greatly expands the use of 
administrative subpoenas, known as National Security Letters (NSLs). 
NSLs are equivalent to search warrants, but they are signed by 
government bureaucrats instead of issued by courts. These subpoenas 
have minimal civil liberty checks in place to ensure an investigation 
is warranted. Presently, the Patriot Act requires recipients of NSLs to 
disclose to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) the names of 
their attorneys who are notified of the NSL. This overzealous provision 
could launch investigations into attorneys trying to defend clients who 
received unwarranted investigations. S. 2271 removes this requirement 
to disclose attorney names, and I am pleased to support this change.
  Finally, S. 2271 increases the burden of proof on obtaining evidence 
from libraries. Under the Patriot Act, an NSL could require libraries 
to hand over book checkout lists and Internet records for specific 
users, which is a tremendous violation of privacy. S. 2271 requires 
investigators to obtain a court order, which would prevent overzealous 
investigators from trying to find evidence without probable cause.
  If S. 2271 does not pass, I am concerned that the Patriot Act will 
move to the President's desk for signature lacking protections to 
prevent challenging nondisclosure requirements, increasing the 
opportunity for civil liberties abuses, and subjecting libraries to 
unnecessary and intrusive scrutiny. While I continue to oppose the 
underlying Patriot Act, I will vote for these improvements. I look 
forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 
correct other deficiencies and protect the American people from both 
terrorists and potential abuses of our freedoms.

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