Marga's Note: I just called Boxer's Office. They told me that she doesn't have a position on this bill yet, and that she does support other parts of the Patriot Act though they don't know which ones.
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Some Members of Congress are trying to expand the USA PATRIOT Act by slipping language into an intelligence agency bill that is debated and amended largely behind closed doors. We need to tell the Intelligence Committees and other Members of Congress that these issues are too important to be debated and decided in secret!
Any expansion of the PATRIOT Act is premature at this point. The "sunset" provision of the
PATRIOT Act, under which a handful of its provisions expire unless renewed by Congress, doesn't
take effect until December of next year (2005). Congress has not finished its oversight work to
determine how the new powers in the PATRIOT Act have been used and whether they were
needed to begin with. As part of that process, and as part of any further changes to the
surveillance laws, Congress should include oversight mechanisms and judicial checks and
balances. That's not what the authors of this sneak move have in mind.
Your Senator is on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Tell him or her that you oppose expanding
the PATRIOT Act, and that you do not want the Sensenbrenner-Goss bill, H.R. 3179, tacked onto
the secret intelligence bill.
Background
Last year, Reps. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Porter Goss (R-FL) introduced H.R. 3179, a bill
that would expand the FBI's ability to obtain records without a court order and wiretap people
without meeting normal constitutional standards. CDT opposes the bill because we need *more*
checks and balances built into the controversial parts of the PATRIOT Act -- not less. After CDT
and others complained, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on H.R. 3179 last month,
where former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) testified against the bill.
After the hearing, it was reported that Rep. Goss, who is the Chair of the House Intelligence
Committee, was likely to tack the provisions of H.R. 3179 onto the annual intelligence
authorization bill, which his committee debates and votes on behind closed doors. The
intelligence authorization bill generally contains many important provisions and it must pass
every year, so it is difficult for members of Congress to vote against it even if it contains some
provisions they oppose. CDT is concerned that if H.R. 3179 is folded into the intelligence
authorization bill in a secret session, it will pass without adequate deliberation and debate.
These issues are far too important to decide behind closed doors.
Consideration of any legislation to expand the USA PATRIOT Act is also premature. We have not
yet had adequate congressional oversight of how the government is using the surveillance
provisions of the PATRIOT Act. And some provisions of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire at the
end of 2005, so Congress will need to review them next year -- when all of these issues can be
publicly debated and analyzed.
What You Can Do
Your Senator is on the House Intelligence Committee! Call Sen. Boxer at (202)224-3553. Ask
for the staffer who handles Intelligence Committee issues.
Tell the person who answers the phone that you oppose H.R. 3179 and do not think the PATRIOT
Act should be expanded in a secret process.
Use these words if you feel tongue-tied:
Staffer : Hello, Sen. Boxer's office.
You: Hi, I'm a constituent and I am calling to urge my Senator to oppose H.R. 3179, and in
particular to oppose including the provisions of H.R. 3179 in the intelligence authorization bill.
H.R. 3179 would expand the PATRIOT Act, and I do not think those important issues should be
decided behind closed doors. Congress must take up the PATRIOT Act next year when it reviews
the sunsets, and all of these issues should be publicly debated next year. Please urge my Senator
to oppose H.R. 3179 and to oppose including it in the intelligence authorization bill.
Staffer : I'll tell the Senator. Thanks, bye!
Tell Others
Tell your family and friends to call their members of Congress as well. You can refer them to this
URL: http://www.cdt.org/action/patriotsunset/ so they can look up their members' phone
numbers. Feel free to include links to that page in blogs as well.
Sample Text for a Blog: Legislation is pending in the U.S. House of Representatives to expand the
USA PATRIOT Act -- and there are reports that it will get slipped into an intelligence agency bill
that is debated and voted on behind closed doors. Urge your Representative to oppose this bill,
and to oppose allowing these important issues to be decided without public participation.
Congress should be adding oversight provisions and judicial checks and balances to the PATRIOT
Act, not expanding it behind closed doors. See http://www.cdt.org/action/patriotsunset/ for
more information.
Only forward this through Wednesday, June 16, 2004.
Posted by marga at June 3, 2004 12:24 PM | TrackBack