[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12203]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            FOURTH AMENDMENT

  (Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, in the run-up to the 
American Revolution, American colonialists were concerned over the 
English Government's use of general warrants--giving British 
authorities the right to enter into private homes or businesses without 
evidence of wrongdoing--to search for and seize anything they 
considered contraband under English laws and taxation. This led to the 
Founding Fathers including this in the United States Constitution:

       Amendment IV. The right of people to be secure in their 
     persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable 
     search and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants 
     shall be issued but upon probable cause, supported by oath or 
     affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched 
     and the persons or things to be seized.

  That is why this debate over NSA programs is so important. Americans 
should be secure in their private papers--electronic or otherwise--
against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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