USA Patriot and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005

USA PATRIOT AND TERRORISM PREVENTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 21, 2005)

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Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to oppose H.R. 3199. As the gentleman just mentioned, I was a member of the Committee on the Judiciary on September 11, 2001. And in the weeks that followed, I joined my colleagues in committee to carefully craft a bill to give law enforcement personnel additional and powerful tools to fight terror. But as many of you recall, the work product of our committee was rejected at the eleventh hour in favor of a far more expansive act which has continued to raise concerns among those who cherish our constitutional liberties.

Through the PATRIOT Act and other anti-terrorism measures, we have become a country that permits secret surveillance, secret searches, denial of court review, monitoring of conversations between citizens and their attorneys, and searching of library and medical records of citizens. This does not sound like America to me.

Mr. Chairman, reauthorization of this act is an opportunity; it is an opportunity to restore the checks and balances that must exist in a free society. I urge my colleagues to vote "no" to allow us that chance.

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