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.
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