Unanimous Consent Request - H.R. 3475

Floor Speech

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Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues, Senator Wyden and Senator Daines. They have worked tirelessly to address this pressing issue of the pending change to privacy protections contained in a proposed change to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

As you have heard, if Congress fails to act today and thoroughly consider and debate these rule changes, they will go into effect at midnight tonight. They will take effect tomorrow, December 1. I believe it is essential that these rules strike a careful balance, giving law enforcement the tools they need to investigate cyber attacks and cyber crimes to keep us safe while also protecting Americans' constitutional rights to freedom from unreasonable searchs, our right to privacy.

Neither the Senate nor House has held a single hearing or markup to evaluate these changes to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The body of government closest to the people has utterly failed to weigh in on an issue that can immediately and directly impact our constituents-- our citizens. While the proposed changes are not necessarily bad or good, they are serious and present significant privacy concerns that warrant careful consideration and debate.

All Americans should want criminal investigations to proceed quickly and thoroughly, but, as I have said, I am concerned that these changes would remove important judicial safeguards by having one judge decide on a search that would give our government the ability to search and possibly alter thousands of computers owned by innocent and unknowing American citizens all over our country.

Members of Congress should have an opportunity to consider this information seriously. We should carefully evaluate the merits of these proposed changes and their ramifications. I think it is our duty to have a frank and open discussion so we can think about the unintended consequences and protect our constituents' rights. Two weeks ago, I introduced legislation that would give Congress the time to have that conversation. The Review the Rule Act, or S. 3475, would delay the changes to rule 41 until July 1, 2017. That bill is cosponsored by Senators Wyden, Leahy, Baldwin, and Franken, as well as Republican Senators Daines, Lee, and Paul.

That list of Senators from every part of our ideological spectrum is just a reminder that this is not a partisan issue. This is a bipartisan group of Senators raising questions and challenges to a proposal by the Obama administration's Justice Department.

I think it is important to remind anyone watching or listening that we want to ensure that the American people are kept safe from hackers and online criminal activity. We want law enforcement to have the tools to investigate and address potential threats, but we shouldn't have to sacrifice our rights to privacy and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures just to achieve that protection.

I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation and working together to evaluate these changes to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 3475 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

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