    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [December 14, 2005]
    [Page 1857]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on House of Representatives Passage of PATRIOT Act
    Reauthorization Legislation
    December 14, 2005

        The PATRIOT Act is essential to fighting the war on terror and
    preventing our enemies from striking America again. I commend the House
    for voting today on a bipartisan basis to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act.
        The legislation reauthorizes the 16 sunsetting provisions and makes
    all but two permanent. It bolsters the law's significant protection of
    privacy and civil liberties. The legislation includes important
    provisions regarding seaport security, mass transportation security, and
    terrorist financing. It creates a new National Security Division at the
    Department of Justice, which was an important recommendation of the WMD
    Commission that I support. It includes important provisions to
    strengthen Federal efforts to combat the dangerous proliferation of
    methamphetamine, which has affected communities across the Nation.
        The PATRIOT Act is scheduled to expire at the end of the month, but
    the terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. In the war on
    terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment. I
    urge the Senate to pass this legislation promptly and reauthorize the
    PATRIOT Act.

    Note: The statement referred to H.R. 3199.