Conference Report on H.R. 3199, Usa Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3199, USA PATRIOT IMPROVEMENT AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - December 14, 2005)
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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this conference report. All of us are in agreement that the United States government must do everything it can do to effectively fight terrorism and protect the American people from another terrorist attack. There is no debate about that. But some of us believe that with strong, well-trained and well-funded law enforcement, we can in fact protect the American people without undermining the constitutional rights that make us a free country.
In that regard, I am happy to say that there has been a very strong coming together of Members of Congress and Americans from very different political perspectives, people who usually agree on nothing but who have come together to protect the Constitutional rights of the American people as we fight terrorism.
We should be very proud that, on this issue, such diverse groups as the ACLU, the American Conservative Union, the Gun Owners of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Library Association and the American Book Sellers Association have come together to say to Congress, please support the Senate version. And this is a message that I hope all Members heed.
The simple fact of the matter is that the original Senate bill is a far better piece of legislation than what we are looking at today, and that is the legislation that we should pass.
Mr. Speaker, day after day, we hear the Republican leadership telling us about the virtues of small and limited government, about how we have got to deregulate almost everything and get government out of our lives. In that regard, are my Republican friends really comfortable with allowing the FBI to access Americans' reading records, gun records, medical records and financial records without judicial approval; allowing the FBI to search someone's home without probable cause and without telling that person about the search; allowing the FBI to serve a librarian or a bookstore owner with a section 215 order demanding records without having to provide facts that a person whose records are being sought is involved in a terrorist investigation?
Please vote no on this conference report.
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