Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

SCIENCE, STATE, JUSTICE, COMMERCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - June 15, 2005)

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AMENDMENT NO. 15 OFFERED BY MR. SANDERS

Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment.

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 3 minutes and 40 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, along with the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Otter), the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), I am again offering the freedom to read amendment. This tripartisan amendment, which has the support of progressives, conservatives and people of all political stripes, would prevent the Justice Department and the FBI from using section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to access library circulation records, library patron lists, book sale records or book customer lists.

This amendment is being supported throughout our country by librarians, book sellers and all Americans who want Congress to be vigorous in protecting the American people from terrorism, but want to make sure that we do that without undermining the basic constitutional rights which have made us the free country that we are.

Mr. Speaker, this amendment is similar to the amendment I offered last year, which lost by a 210-210 vote after the voting rolls had been kept open for an extra 20 minutes.

There is one difference in this amendment compared to last year's that I do want to emphasize: I have heard from some Members who have expressed concerns about the possible need for the FBI to access library Internet records. Some Members believe that by exempting library Internet records from section 215, we could be creating an opportunity for terrorists.

The amendment today addresses that concern and does not apply to library Internet records. Under this amendment, the FBI could still use a section 215 order to obtain these records. This amendment only applies to the records that contain information on which books people are checking out of the library or buying from a bookstore.

Mr. Speaker, setting aside all of the legalese, let me tell you what this amendment does. Let me also tell you why the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association and many other organizations are supporting it. Let me also at this time remind Members that seven States, Vermont, Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine and Montana, as well as 379 municipalities across the country, have gone on record by passing resolutions expressing their concerns about the PATRIOT Act.

Mr. Speaker, the American people want to know that when they borrow a book from a library or buy a book from the bookstore that the government will not have access to the titles of the books they are reading. They want to read what they want to read without government looking over their shoulder and without Uncle Sam becoming Big Brother and spying on them.

Under section 215 as currently written, the FBI can walk into a secret FISA court, tell a judge that he is doing an investigation on terrorism, and that judge has to grant the FBI the right to go to a library or a bookstore and obtain their reading records. The FBI need not show probable cause nor even reasonable grounds to believe that the person whose records it seeks is engaged in criminal activities. The simple truth is that the FBI could spy on a person because they do not like the books she reads or because she wrote a letter to the editor critical of government policy.

Further, those served with section 215 orders are prohibited from disclosing the fact to anyone else. Those who are the subjects of the surveillance are never notified that their privacy has been compromised.

Mr. Speaker, that is not supposed to be what America is about and not what a free society is about. If the government can make the case that getting records from a library or bookstore can help us fight terrorism, I want them to get those records. In fact, they have always had the ability to get those records and will be able to get those records in the future through normal law enforcement processes.

But whether it is through the grand jury subpoena process or the process of getting a search warrant, there are well-established judicial safeguards to protect Americans' basic civil liberties from government overreaching. Under those long-established judicial safeguards, the FBI must demonstrate that its need for information is legitimate. They cannot get it just because they want it, and that is what this amendment is all about.

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This amendment is supported by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association. Seven States in America, Democrat and Republican legislatures, have gone on record expressing serious concerns about the PATRIOT Act. And hundreds of thousands of Americans, hundreds of thousands, have written Members of Congress about this issue.

Mr. Chairman, all of us and all Americans grieve the horror of 9/11 and the deaths of thousands of our fellow citizens. And every Member of this Congress is on record pledged to do everything he or she can to defend the American people from another terrorist attack. We have spent tens of billions of dollars, and we are prepared to spend more. But, Mr. Chairman, the reason that conservatives and progressives and people in between have come together is that we understand that what we are talking about is freedom; is liberty; that we can fight terrorism, we can defeat terrorism, we can protect the American people without undermining the constitutional rights that men and women have fought for, have died for, and that made us the greatest country on Earth.

Let us go forward defeating terrorism, but let us do it in a way that makes us all proud, that protects the greatest document ever written, the American Constitution. And that is what this amendment is about.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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