[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 17, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2106]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1720
                   CYBERSECURITY AND THE CONSTITUTION

  (Mr. McCLINTOCK asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Madam Speaker, the House has been considering H.R. 
624, the so-called CISPA bill.
  Although its sponsors assure us that a person's Internet data would 
be stripped of personal identification, this bill then allows this data 
to be used to prosecute certain Federal crimes. Well, how could they do 
it? It turns out the Federal Government, having stumbled upon this 
evidence, can then seek a warrant to obtain that personally identifying 
information.
  That makes it the functional equivalent of the ``writs of 
assistance'' used by the English Crown in colonial times. It is 
antithetical to the Fourth Amendment, which requires that, before the 
government can invade your privacy, it must first present a court with 
reasonable cause to believe you have committed a crime. This bill 
effectively allows the government to search through your personal 
records indiscriminantly and then use that information to form the 
basis of a prosecution.
  Cybersecurity is an important national security issue, but it does 
not trump the Bill of Rights or the American freedoms that our 
Constitution protects.

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