[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 174 (Friday, October 26, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FOURTH AMENDMENT IS IN DANGER

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                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 26, 2018

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk about a looming 
menace to our democracy that has been pushed off the front pages but 
that, nevertheless, continues to compromise our individual liberty and 
freedom everyday--Mr. Speaker, I am talking about the ongoing erosion 
of our basic right to privacy guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment to 
the Constitution.
  The Fourth Amendment, as a quick reminder, guarantees: ``The right of 
people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, 
against unreasonable searches and seizures, and shall not be violated, 
and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath 
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized.''
  From NSA spying, governmental intrusion into your medical history, to 
Patriot Act searches of your phone and voice records, to Google 
collecting data about your everyday life and then turning it over to 
the highest bidder OR the government if they want it--our Fourth 
Amendment rights are under continued attack.
  The Fourth Amendment is a citizen's greatest strength to combat a 
bullying and growing governmental police state. We even have seen an 
expansion of administrative subpoenas--somehow my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle do not see this as a problem. Why? Because it 
means that government bureaucrats, without a judge's approval or 
probable cause, can lead lawless investigations fishing for wrong-doing 
without purpose. This tool has been used against businesses, large and 
small, as well as individual citizens.
  The previous administration used the SEC, Department of Justice, and 
the IRS to target those who seemed ``a bit too conservative'' or whose 
purpose aided right-leaning causes.
  These administrative subpoenas were created back in the day of FDR 
and the Great Depression to thwart those who fought back against the 
New Deal's major expansion of the federal government and its powers or 
dared to try to forward free commerce--pay no mind to the forgotten 
Tenth Amendment. The Founding Fathers abhorred these warrants, also 
called Writs of Assistance, which were used by the British government 
to target governmental critics, those seeking religious freedom, a free 
press, merchants and businesses, or those seeking to better their own 
lives in the new colonies. The Writs allowed British officials to 
search or seize any property at anytime, anywhere, for any reason.
  The Fourth Amendment protects against government totalitarianism and 
government over-reach. Whether it is by governmental snooping of our 
data and phone records, which has been around since the days of J. 
Edgar Hoover, and has been amped up in a post 9/11 world, or through 
judge-less warrants like administrative subpoenas, Americans must be 
on-alert to try to protect what the Fourth Amendment guarantees us all. 
Because if not, we simply slip back towards a people controlled by our 
government who is always watching, waiting to grow its power, and 
listening for that with which it may not agree, a destruction of the 
amazing democracy that was created almost 250 years ago.
  And that's just the way it is.

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