Repeal of Senate Notification Requirements Relating to Legal Process on Disclosures of Senate Data

Floor Speech

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Ms. HAGEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6019.

Included in the Senate amendment to H.R. 5371 was a section providing for a private right of action for those Senators who were targeted by the Biden administration to access their cell phone data.

I support repealing this particular provision, not because I think that these Senators and others should not be able to sue the Federal Government for these acts, but because they already have the ability to do so.

The Senators, similar to any other citizen who was wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration, already have a private right of action to sue the Federal Government, including the FBI and other agencies that may have been involved, for violation of their Fourth Amendment rights and other statutory provisions that govern privacy rights and/or that limit Federal law enforcement from pursuing political witch hunts.

I guess I am just absolutely shocked by my colleague on the other side who believes that the Federal Government has the right to invade the privacy and violate the Fourth Amendment rights not only of sitting U.S. Senators but the 340 million people in this country. He apparently believes that the Federal Government has the right to access their phone data at any time, which is absolutely untrue.

My message to those individuals who were involved in violating the constitutional rights of American citizens is very simple. You are the very type of tyrants that our Founders fought against and the reason as to why they drafted the Bill of Rights. You will be exposed. You will be held accountable. You should never be allowed near the levers of power again.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 6019.

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