Johnny Isakson ain't no friend of We the People either.

Dear Mr. Barnes:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Patriot Act. I appreciate hearing from you and appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, represented an unprovoked and unprecedented act of war against the United States. We have an obligation to do everything in our power to protect our nation and ensure that terrorists are stopped before their acts are successful. At the same time it is important that any efforts to protect our country from future terrorist attacks do not infringe upon the civil liberties that are at the core of the U.S. Constitution. It was appropriate that Congress took steps to enhance the ability of federal authorities to pursue and capture terrorist suspects by enacting the Patriot Act. I support a permanent extension of the Patriot Act because I believe the law has been effective in protecting our country and saving American lives, including in the case of the arrest and conviction of two Atlanta men who were plotting a terror attack in 2006 and the arrest and subsequent guilty plea of Najibullah Zazi who was plotting a terror attack on New York in 2009. I also recently traveled to Munich, Germany, where I met with leading defense ministers from several countries to discuss our vulnerability to all forms of terrorism, including cyber terrorism. I believe that the Patriot Act provides the United States the 21st Century communications tools that are essential to preventing terror attacks.

On May 26, 2011, the Senate took up legislation that extended three key provisions of the Patriot Act relating to law enforcement's ability to conduct court-approved "roving" wiretaps of terror suspects as they change phones or locations, allowing law enforcement access to library records and other items considered relevant to a terror investigation with court approval, and the surveillance of suspected "lone wolf" terrorists not linked to a specific terrorist organization. It made no substantive changes or additions to current law, and before these provisions can be used the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court must authorize their use. Any records sought by the government using this authority must be relevant to an authorized national security investigation and the Court must first approve the government's request to obtain the records. The records sought are often similar to those that can be obtained using a simple grand jury subpoena in a criminal investigation. These three provisions are designed to give the intelligence community flexibility, and similar capabilities for tracking terrorists that law enforcement currently has to capture ordinary criminals, and not one of the three provisions expands the definition of a "domestic terrorist" or targets law abiding citizens or their Second Amendment rights. In fact, the provision on "lone wolf" suspects only applies to non-U.S. persons who are engaged in international terrorism activities. As you may also know, during debate on this legislation Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) offered two amendments relating to banking and gun records. I opposed these amendments because I believed they would have the unintended consequences of weakening the Patriot Act and thereby diminish its effectiveness in helping law enforcement protect our country.

I voted in favor of extending these provisions that I believe are a critical and proven tool for law enforcement to track terrorists and to keep our nation safe from terrorist attacks. This legislation passed the Senate by a vote of 72–23 and it was signed into law by the President.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please visit my webpage at http://isakson.senate.gov/ for more information on the issues important to you and to sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator

For future correspondence with my office, please visit my web site at http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm. You can also click here to sign up for the eNewsletter

Saxby ain't no friend of We the People

From Saxby Chambliss:

Dear Mr. Barnes:

Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts regarding the PATRIOT Act.  I appreciate hearing from you. 

            

Since its passage following the September 11, 2001, attacks, the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism" (commonly referred to as "PATRIOT") Act and its subsequent reauthorizations have been an integral tool in a number of successful operations to protect Americans from terrorist plots. 

I believe this legislation is consistent with existing civil liberties and embodies a spirit of prevention and balance.  The PATRIOT Act streamlines anti-terrorism law so that it is uniform with other areas of criminal enforcement.  For example, the legislation allows federal agents to obtain library, medical, or financial records with a court-ordered search warrant.  These kinds of searches have routinely been granted in other types of criminal investigations.  Similarly, the legislation authorizes the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to approve a court order so that federal agents can continue surveillance on a target who switches telephones or e-mail addresses to evade surveillance.  This "roving" authority, based upon the successful roving provision in the federal criminal wiretap statutes, allows the Intelligence Community to track suspected terrorists and spies to the same extent that federal law enforcement can hunt drug dealers and other ordinary, domestic criminals. 

            

            In February 2010, President Obama signed into law a one-year extension of certain expiring provisions of the "USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005" and "Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004."  Specifically, three provisions were extended:  (1) the roving surveillance authority; (2) the authorization for the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to apply for a court order requiring production of tangible things, not merely business records, for national security investigations; and (3) an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) that redefines "agent of a foreign power" to include any non-U.S. person who engages in international terrorism or activities in preparation for such terrorism ("lone wolf" provision).  The extension of these three provisions was set to expire on February 28, 2011.

            On February 3, 2011, a series of bills, S. 289, S. 290, and S. 291, pertaining to the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act were introduced.  I am an original co-sponsor of S. 291, the "USA PATRIOT Reauthorization Act of 2011," which would repeal the sunset provisions in the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and other related provisions in order to permanently reauthorize the PATRIOT Act.  In a recent Intelligence Committee hearing, FBI Director Robert Mueller stated that he too supports permanent reauthorization of these provisions because they grant the intelligence community the same abilities that federal law enforcement has possessed for years.

On February 15, 2011, the Senate passed H.R. 514 with my support, which extended these expiring provisions until May 27, 2011.  On February 25, President Obama signed this bill into law.

On May 26, 2011, the Senate passed S. 990 with my support, which again extended the expiring provisions until June 1, 2015.  This legislation was then signed into law by the President.

All of the PATRIOT Act provisions are subjected to rigorous congressional oversight.  The Department of Justice is required to submit to Congress annual reports on the various provisions in the bill, and multiple congressional committees regularly request additional information to ensure that American's civil liberties are protected.  The PATRIOT Act is an indispensible tool for disrupting terrorism.  We have found that the PATRIOT Act has greatly curtailed terrorists' abilities to operate. 

            I supported passage of the original and reauthorized versions of the PATRIOT Act, and I continue to monitor its effectiveness in our overall war on terrorism through my work as Vice Chairman on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is a protection that I and all Americans value highly.  I will do everything in my power to protect the civil liberties enjoyed by American citizens, while enabling the intelligence community to do its job. 

            If you would like to receive timely email alerts regarding the latest congressional actions and my weekly e-newsletter, please sign up via my web site at: www.chambliss.senate.gov.  Please let me know whenever I may be of assistance.