PATRIOT Act Renewal Important for Keeping Americans Safe

PATRIOT Act Renewal Important for Keeping Americans Safe
January 12, 2006

In the aftermath of 9/11 Congress passed the PATRIOT Act, which strengthened the tools law enforcement officials could use to investigate and apprehend suspected terrorists.

Earlier this summer, I voted with a bipartisan majority of my House colleagues to pass the USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005. This legislation would prevent the provisions of the PATRIOT Act from "sunsetting," or expiring, at the end of 2005. All bills must be agreed to by the House and Senate before they can become law. The Senate also approved a version of the Reauthorization Act. A House-Senate Conference Committee Report worked out the differences between the two versions of the bill and a final bill was reported back to both legislative bodies for approval. Without reauthorization the PATRIOT Act would expire, returning law enforcement and intelligence communities to pre-9/11 environments.

During the final busy week before finishing the first session of the 109th Congress, I once again voted with a bipartisan majority of my House colleagues, who approved the Conference Report by a vote of 251 - 174. The Senate then threatened to filibuster the Conference Report, prompting President Bush to comment that, "the terrorist threat won't expire, even if the PATRIOT Act does."

At the last minute the Senate agreed to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act in its current form for six months. Rather than postpone the matter until this summer, the House agreed to a five-week extension, until February 3, 2006. The short extension forces the Senate to resume debate on the PATRIOT Act in January.

The PATRIOT Act Reauthorization Conference Report, as passed by the House is a better solution because it offers additional laws designed to help safeguard America's mass transportation, railroad system, and seaports. The Conference Report expands and makes permanent the law prohibiting material support to terrorists; prohibits narco-terrorism; and combats terrorism financing. It also contains over 30 additional safeguards and judicial oversights designed to ensure American's civil liberties are protected, while diligently guarding against terrorist attacks. The government's primary responsibility is to keep its citizens safe and therefore, I call on the Senate to adopt the Conference Report.

The PATRIOT Act Reauthorization Conference Report would permanently tear down "the wall" that prevented law enforcement and intelligence communities from sharing information before 9/11. Because investigators and prosecutors could share information, the PATRIOT Act played a role in breaking up terrorist cells in the U.S. (in Buffalo; Detroit; Seattle; Portland, Oregon; and Northern Virginia). In a recent Saturday radio address, President Bush included Ohio as a state where the PATRIOT Act has helped law enforcement break up and prosecute terror cells. Over 400 individuals have been criminally charged in the United States in international terrorism-related investigations as a result of the PATRIOT Act.

Most of what the PATRIOT Act does is not new. Many of the tools in the PATRIOT Act have been used for decades to fight organized crime and drug dealers.

The section involving roving wiretaps updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats. The PATRIOT Act ensures that law enforcement no longer has to fight in a digital age with laws passed in the era of rotary telephones. Roving wiretaps allow law enforcement to track terrorists through the use of disposable cell phones and free email accounts. In this way the PATRIOT Act updates the law to meet 21st Century technology.

There is tremendous Congressional oversight of the PATRIOT Act and the Reauthorization Conference Report significantly increases Congressional and Judicial oversight. Every six months the Inspector General has to report to Congress what orders they've obtained. In addition, provisions of the original PATRIOT Act created a course of action that allowed for monetary damages if a person was aggrieved by the willful violation of specific portions of the PATRIOT Act or FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act).

The PATRIOT Act has played a key role in a number of successful operations to protect innocent Americans from terrorists. There should be no safe zone, no sanctuary, for terrorists in America. This fight is way too important. The PATRIOT Act helps ensure that terrorists have no safe zone. Therefore, the Senate should approve the PATRIOT Act Reauthorization Conference Report.

http://www.house.gov/miketurner/news/columns/1.12.06.shtml