Why the Patriot Act Needs to be Reauthorized

Why the Patriot Act Needs to be Reauthorized

Rep. Boozman's Column for the Week of February 27, 2006

Washington, Feb 27 -

If you asked most Americans how they would feel if the laws that allowed their local police department to protect you suddenly expired, they would tell you they would be very concerned. Well, this is exactly what is happening at the federal level. Federal law enforcement agents may lose the ability to protect us from terrorism if we don't move to reauthorize the Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act gives law enforcement the tools to prevent a terrorist attack before it happens. These tools are basically the same tools that Justice Department and the FBI have used for years to thwart organized crime and drug dealers. It gives authorities the ability to proactively detect and disrupt terrorist attacks instead of waiting to prosecute those responsible after the fact. Unfortunately, this important law is due to expire unless it is reauthorized by Congress in the coming weeks.

Before the Patriot Act, there were major legal barriers that prevented the law enforcement intelligence and national defense communities from talking, sharing information and coordinating their work. This resulted in the intelligence failure that al-Qaeda exploited on 9/11 to kill over 3,000 innocent Americans.

The intelligence failure leading up to the 9/11 attacks didn't have to happen and shouldn't happen ever again. Since the enactment of the Patriot Act, the wall that prevented our intelligence and law enforcement agencies from uncovering the 9/11 plot has been torn down and information sharing and cooperation among government agencies is much more seamless today.

Specifically, the Patriot Act allows federal agents to follow sophisticated terrorists trained to evade detection; to conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists; and to ask a court for an order to obtain business records in national security terrorism cases. In the past, law enforcement personnel were required to obtain a series of search warrants, one by one, form a series of different judges everywhere suspected terrorists may be hiding documents about planned attacks or other evidence. Now, they can obtain multiple warrants in any district, regardless of where they will be executed. This allows law enforcement to quickly track potential terrorists, like the 9/11 attackers, who spread out and plan their attacks in more than one location.

The reauthorization of the Patriot Act passed the House of Representatives in December. However, it has been delayed in the Senate and we have been forced to pass temporary extensions while Senators work out their differences. It seems though that the Senate has come to an agreement and the bill should be passed within the next week or two.

The reason for the delay is that some members really do have sincere concerns about the law's impact on civil liberties. However, we have held more than twenty Congressional oversight hearings on the Patriot Act and found through them that most of those concerns are unfounded. In fact, Congress and the Justice Department have found no verified civil liberties abuses since the law was enacted.

To reassure people with sincere concerns about the Patriot Act, we added over thirty new significant safeguards in the reauthorization to prevent that from happening. These provisions include additional rights to legal counsel; new sunset provisions to guarantee ongoing congressional review; and additional congressional oversight and judicial review.

While seeking to reauthorize the Patriot Act, we have also attempted to modify and remove provisions that do not help us in the War on Terror. For instance, I joined my colleagues in amending the bill to provide additional protections for library and bookstore patrons and to ensure that data-mining technology developed or used by the government is thoroughly reviewed by Congress.

That being said, the vast majority of provisions have withstood the critical eye of Congress and rightfully so. They are legal, necessary and are working. To date, the Patriot Act has been used to break-up terror cells and prosecute terrorist operatives in ten states. It has led to almost four hundred arrests of individuals suspected of terrorist activities and resulted in over two hundred convictions. It has played an important role in protecting us from another terrorist attack at home and, once reauthorized, will continue to in the future.

http://www.boozman.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=39934