Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendment to H.R. 514, Extending Counterterrorism Authorities

Floor Speech

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Ms. CHU. I rise today to oppose this rule. The underlying bill will extend provisions of the Patriot Act that continue to deny Americans their civil liberties.

Mr. Speaker, we should not be extending these provisions. We should be fixing them. A delay even of 3 months will only incur more violations of the civil rights of American citizens.

Take the so-called ``roving wiretaps,'' which allow our government to spy on a nebulous array of people and technology. If the FBI wants to wiretap a phone, they don't even have to know who they're listening to. They don't even have to get a court's permission to tap a phone before they start listening.

Now, last year, I voted on a bill that would at a minimum require the government to name the place or person they want to listen to. But does this bill include that simple protection? No.

These provisions, including the provision to allow the FBI to access your private information, even the books that you read, make a mockery of our civil liberties--letting the government spy on whomever they want for any reason without letting Americans know or without giving them a chance to challenge that order in court.

It has been a full decade since these overly broad provisions were passed, and I don't think we should extend them without commonsense changes. We need to fix them and fix them now and protect American privacy and personal information from government overreach.

So I urge the other side to come back to the table and work with us on a bill that protects our national security without undermining Americans' civil liberties and constitutional rights. And if they can't find a way to work with us on a bipartisan basis to protect the American people, then all of my colleagues should oppose this rule and the underlying bill.

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