[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 10, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S394-S395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 22--REAFFIRMING THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY 
   PROTECTIONS ACCORDED SEALED DOMESTIC MAIL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Carper, Mr. Coleman, and 
Mr. Akaka) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:

                               S. Res. 22

       Whereas all Americans depend on the United States Postal 
     Service to transact business and communicate with friends and 
     family;
       Whereas postal customers have a constitutional right to 
     expect that their sealed domestic mail will be protected 
     against unreasonable searches;
       Whereas the circumstances and procedures under which the 
     Government may search sealed mail are well defined, including 
     provisions under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 
     1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and generally require prior 
     judicial approval;
       Whereas the United States Postal Inspection Service has the 
     authority to open and search a sealed envelope or package 
     when there is immediate threat to life or limb or an 
     immediate and substantial danger to property;
       Whereas the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act 
     (Public Law 109-435) expressly reaffirmed the right of postal 
     customers to have access to a class of mail sealed against 
     inspection;
       Whereas the United States Postal Service affirmed January 
     4, 2007, that the enactment of the Postal Accountability and 
     Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435) does not grant Federal 
     law enforcement officials any new authority to open domestic 
     mail;
       Whereas the signing statement on the Postal Accountability 
     and Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435) issued by President 
     Bush on December 20, 2006, raises questions about the 
     President's commitment to abide by these basic privacy 
     protections; and
       Whereas the Senate rejects any interpretation of the 
     President's signing statement on the Postal Accountability 
     and Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435) that in any way 
     diminishes the privacy protections accorded sealed domestic 
     mail under the Constitution and Federal laws and regulations:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate reaffirms the constitutional and 
     statutory protections accorded sealed domestic mail.

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a Senate 
resolution that will reaffirm the fundamental constitutional and 
statutory protections accorded sealed domestic mail. I am very pleased 
to have the distinguished chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs 
and Homeland Security Committee, Senator Lieberman, as a cosponsor, 
Senator Carper, who was the author of the postal reform bill with me in 
the last Congress, Senator Coleman, and Senator Akaka, all of whom have 
been very active on postal issues.
  On December 20, President Bush signed into law the Postal 
Accountability and Enhancement Act that Senator Carper and I originally 
introduced in 2004. This new law represents the most sweeping reforms 
to the U.S. Postal Service in more than 30 years.
  The Presiding Officer and new chairman of the committee knows well 
that of all the legislation our committee produced last year, in many 
ways this was the most difficult to bring to completion.
  The act, which will help the 225-year-old Postal Service, meets the 
challenges of the 21st century, establishes a new rate-setting system, 
helps ensure a stronger financial future for the Postal Service, 
provides more stability and predictability in rates, and protects the 
basic feature of universal service. One of the act's many provisions 
provides continued authority for the Postal Service to establish a 
class of mail sealed against inspection.
  The day President Bush signed the Postal Reform Act into law, he also 
issued a signing statement construing that particular provision to 
permit ``searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human 
life and safety.'' While I understand that the President's spokesman 
has explained that the signing statement did not intend to change the 
scope of this new law, it has resulted in considerable confusion and 
widespread concern about the President's commitment to abide by the 
basic privacy protections afforded sealed domestic mail. For some, it 
raised the specter of the Government unlawfully monitoring our mail in 
the name of national security.
  Given this unfortunate perception, I wish to be very clear as the 
author of this legislation. Nothing in the Postal Reform Act, nor in 
the President's signing statement, alters in any way

[[Page S395]]

the privacy and civil liberty protections provided to a person who 
sends or receives sealed mail. In fact, the President's signing 
statement appears to do nothing more than restate current law, but by 
the mere act of issuing the signing statement, unfortunately, the 
administration raised questions about what, in fact, is their intent.
  Under current law, mail sealed against inspection is entitled to the 
strongest possible protections against physical searches, the 
protections afforded by our Constitution which guard against 
unreasonable searches. With only limited exceptions, the Government 
needs a warrant issued by a court before it can search sealed mail. 
This is true whether the search is conducted under our Criminal Code to 
obtain evidence of a crime or under the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act, FISA, of 1978 to collect foreign intelligence 
information concerning a national security threat. Only when there is 
an immediate danger to life or limb or an immediate and substantial 
danger to property can the Government search a domestic sealed letter 
or package without a warrant. Let me give a couple of examples. That 
could occur when there are wires protruding from a package, for 
example, or odors escaping from an envelope or stains on the outside of 
a package indicating that the contents may constitute an immediate 
danger or threat.
  Americans depend on the U.S. Postal Service to transact business and 
to communicate with friends and family, and if there is any doubt in 
the public's mind that the Government is not protecting the 
constitutional privacy accorded their mail, if there is suspicion that 
the Government is unlawfully opening mail, then our Nation's confidence 
in the sanctity of our mail system and, indeed, in our Government will 
be eroded. That is precisely why I am joining with my colleagues in 
submitting this resolution today. It makes clear to all law-abiding 
Americans that the Federal Government will not invade their privacy by 
reading their sealed mail absent a court order or emergency 
circumstances. Any contrary interpretation of the Postal Reform Act is 
just plain wrong.
  I invite my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this resolution 
which reaffirms the constitutional and statutory protections accorded 
to domestic sealed mail. I say to the Presiding Officer, the chairman 
of the committee with jurisdiction over this matter, that I hope we can 
act very quickly and get this resolution approved by the full Senate. I 
believe it is important that we go on record without any delay to 
assure the American people that those protections which they value so 
much are still in place and have not been altered, given the doubt that 
the President's signing statement created.

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