Congressmen Massie and Amash Block Patriot Act Expansion

Statement

On Monday, House leadership tried to expand the Patriot Act by passing H.R. 5606. The bill would have passed on a voice vote if my colleague Congressman Justin Amash had not demanded a recorded vote.

Following the September 11 attacks, Congress passed the Patriot Act, a package of laws that created what I call a "Constitution distortion zone" which lowered the constitutional threshold required to search a person's information. Under the current Patriot Act, financial institutions like banks can share their customers' private information with the government without a warrant, provided those customers are suspected of terrorism or money laundering. H.R. 5606 would have expanded the Patriot Act to allow financial institutions to share private information for literally ANY suspected criminal activity, WITHOUT a warrant. Allowing intimate customer information to be given to the government based on mere suspicion of a domestic offense is unconstitutional and goes well beyond the scope of "terrorism" targeted by the original Patriot Act.

The bill required a 2/3 majority to pass since they "suspended the rules" to bypass the committee and bring it directly to the floor. Using social media like Facebook and Twitter, Congressman Amash and I rallied colleagues and citizens to oppose the bill. The bill received a majority, but not the 2/3 majority required to pass. We must remain vigilant, because leadership could reintroduce the bill through committee and pass it with a simple majority. Hopefully by then, more congressmen would realize how unconstitutional the bill is.

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