Sanders Joins Author Salman Rushdie, Librarians and Booksellers in Calling For Repeal of Patriot Act Provision

Sanders Joins Author Salman Rushdie, Librarians and Booksellers in Calling For Repeal of Patriot Act Provision

Good morning. I'd like to thank you all for coming to this important event to discuss Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. I, along with my colleagues Barbara Lee of California and Raul Grijalva of Arizona are extremely pleased to be joined here today by Salman Rushdie, the President of the PEN American Center; former U.S. Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder who is now the President of the Association of American Publishers; Mitchell Kaplan, President of the American Booksellers Association; and Carla Hayden, past President of the American Library Association.

These four organizations have been leaders in drawing attention to Section 215 of the Patriot Act and its dangerous implications for civil liberties in our country. And I want to thank them very much for all of the hard work that they've done on this issue.

Let me be very clear. International terrorism is serious business and, in my view, the U.S. government and governments throughout the world must do everything that we can to protect our people from terrorist attacks, and effectively fight terrorism. But we can and must fight terrorism without undermining the basic principles and constitutional rights which make us a free country. We do not need legislation such as Section 215 of the Patriot Act which allows government agents access to the files of America's libraries and bookstores without probable cause. We do not need legislation which makes Americans nervous as to whether the U.S. government will be looking over their shoulders in terms of the books they are reading or the internet sites they are looking at in a library. We do not need legislation which makes librarians and book store owners complicit with the government in spying on their customers. In the United States, with our history, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our respect for freedom, we can and must do better than that.

One of the exhilarating aspects of this whole struggle against Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act has been the massive amount of grassroots activity that is taking place. And I should add here that this opposition is coming from across the political spectrum - from Progressives, Conservatives and many in between.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have written their Representatives in Congress to express opposition to the Patriot Act and Section 215 and encouraged them to co-sponsor H.R. 1157, The Freedom to Read Protection Act - which now has 152 sponsors. Some of you may recall that when we offered an amendment on this issue on July 8th as part of the Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations bill we had 218 votes, before the Speaker kept the rolls open for an additional 20 minutes and twisted enough arms to defeat us 210-210.

Today I am very pleased to announce that over 180,000 Americans have signed a Campaign for Reader Privacy petition expressing strong opposition to Section 215 and support for restoring privacy protections to the American people. The petitions have been collected by thousands of libraries and bookstores throughout America. Today is the culmination of months and months of work by numerous organizations to draw attention to potential civil liberties violations as a result of the Patriot Act.

Not only do we have 180,000 Americans on record stating their extreme opposition to Section 215 of the Patriot Act, but we have four state legislatures, including my own state of Vermont, 352 municipalities all across the country, conservative and progressive, going on record in passing resolutions expressing their concerns regarding the Patriot Act.

As many people know, on Capitol Hill this week both the House and the Senate are marking-up the 9/11 Commission legislation that has been introduced in each chamber. My strong hope is that, in the process, Congress does not repeat the mistakes of the Patriot Act. I would like to emphasize the great need to pass only carefully worded legislation with respect to civil liberties.

Next year will be another battle surrounding the Patriot Act with certain sections, including Section 215, due to sunset. Bills have already been introduced in Congress to repeal the sunsets. I sincerely hope there will be committee hearings as well as open and honest debates surrounding the sunsets. If the Department of Justice needs provisions like Sections 215, someone should tell Congress and the American people how, why, and for whom they have been used. We cannot and should not turn a blind eye and simply support the Justice Department because they have said "trust us."