Statement of Congresswoman Lofgren on the Sanders Amendment

7/8/2004

Statement of Congresswoman Lofgren on the Sanders Amendment

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren today offered the following statement regarding her vote on the Sanders amendment:

"I have been a cosponsor and supporter of H.R. 1157, the Freedom to Read Protection Act, for over a year. However, today I voted present on Rep. Sanders' amendment because it goes far beyond that bill. Unlike H.R. 1157, the Sanders amendment would have prohibited any FISA court orders directed at library Internet records, regardless of whether those records contained personally identifiable information of library patrons. I am concerned that this language is too broad and would needlessly tie the hands of federal law enforcement. For example, it could prevent federal law enforcement authorities from utilizing section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to combat cyber attacks launched from a public library.

"Since this language was offered as an amendment to an appropriations bill, the House Judiciary Committee did not have an opportunity to consider its impact on law enforcement. The fact is that we do not have a full understanding of how the Department of Justice is utilizing its new powers under the PATRIOT Act, including section 215. I and other Democrats have been pushing the Committee to conduct more oversight, and I hope that as the PATRIOT Act's sunset date approaches, the Department will be more forthcoming.
"I believe that Rep. Sanders raised important issues in this amendment, and more substantively in the Freedom to Read Protection Act, and I look forward to thoroughly considering them as Congress decides whether to the extend section 215 beyond the sunset.

"While I could not support Rep. Sanders' amendment, let it be clear that I strongly oppose the Speaker's practice of holding open votes in order to engage in armtwisting. It is common practice for the House to complete votes in 15 minutes. Once again, the Speaker's tactics today proves that the Republicans and Tom DeLay will do anything to win a vote."