Sanders Joins Bipartisan Coalition of House and Senate Members in Calling for Patriot Act Reform
Sanders Joins Bipartisan Coalition of House and Senate Members in Calling for Patriot Act Reform
11/18/2005
House and Senate Members Urge the Conference Committee to Protect Core Constitutional Freedoms
Washington D.C.-Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) today joined a bipartisan coalition of House and Senate members calling for the Republican leadership to remove serious and unnecessary dilutions of Americans Constitutional rights in the latest - and supposedly final -- version of the PATRIOT Act renewal. The bipartisan, House/Senate coalition called on Republican leaders to respect unanimous votes in both the House and Senate earlier this year to include four-year sunsets on three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act and to reform some of the bill's most egregious provisions. The coalition included Sanders as well as Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), Senator Larry Craig (R-ID); Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL); Senator John Sununu (R-NH); Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI); Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK); Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO); Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY); Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA); Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL)
Sanders said, "More than 400 communities and seven states, including Vermont, from across the country have called on Congress to substantially reform the Patriot Act so that we restore vital protections of Americans' Constitutional rights. It is gratifying to see this incredible bipartisan coalition coming together to make sure that happens. The bottom line is we can and must win the fight against terrorism but we can do it without giving up the cherished freedoms that define our nation."
One of the central demands of the coalition is for the renewal to include four-year sunsets unanimously supported in both the House and the Senate for three of the Act's most controversial provisions. The Senate-passed version of the Act has always included four-year sunsets. The House originally called for ten-year sunsets, but later unanimously passed a resolution instructing the conference committee to impose four-year sunsets. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership in the House is attempting to ignore this request and impose seven-year sunsets.
Sanders said, "This is an outrageous abuse of power by the House Republican leadership. How can the American people trust the leadership not to abuse the powers under the Patriot Act when they have shown over and over again that they are willing to run rough-shod over the will of rank-and-file Democrats and Republicans in Congress to get what they want. The shorter sunsets are critical to making sure that Congress revisits these provisions in the near future so we can prevent any abuses that take place by government agents."
The coalition also called attention to the need for key changes to specific provisions of the Act, including reforms to Section 215 to protect of Americans' reading records. The changes called for would increase the government's duty to show that records it seeks - including Americans' reading records in libraries and bookstores - really belong to someone who is connected to terrorism and not part of some fishing expedition. Recent news stories about a government investigation in Connecticut revealed that government agents are trying to get the library records of numerous people not suspected of having any connection to terrorism.
Sanders said, "We must do all we can to protect Americans from terrorism, but we must do it in a way that does not undermine the basic constitutional rights that makes us a free country. American citizens from across the political spectrum have made it clear that they do not want the government monitoring their reading habits. The changes we need will help ensure that Big Brother is not reading over our shoulders."
http://bernie.house.gov/documents/document.asp?issueNum=4657