[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 176 (Thursday, December 12, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H7700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE EMAIL PRIVACY ACT

  (Mr. YODER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. YODER. Mr. Speaker, the number of Americans who support updating 
our electronic communication privacy laws is growing every day. Just 
today, The Washington Post reported that over 100,000 Americans have 
signed a petition asking President Obama to support changes in the 27-
year-old privacy law called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act 
that currently allows government agents to search Americans' private 
emails without a warrant.
  The Constitution prohibits government from searching postal mail 
without a warrant. It defies common sense that emails should have any 
less protection.
  Our existing laws were written before Facebook and Google even 
existed. Just think how far we have come in regard to Internet 
technology. It is time to update these laws.
  The American people are shocked when they learn that their emails do 
not have the same privacy protections as their mail and other documents 
in their homes. That is why I introduced H.R. 1852, the Email Privacy 
Act, a bipartisan bill to affirm that Americans have a reasonable 
expectation of privacy in their emails.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time Congress and the President worked together to 
update our email privacy laws. I urge the House to pass this needed 
legislation.

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