Jon Kyl: “I understand that the senior Senator from Oregon, Mr. Wyden, spoke yesterday regarding the reauthorization of the USA…”

“I understand that the senior Senator from Oregon, Mr. Wyden, spoke yesterday regarding the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act. I look forward to the Senate acting later this year on PATRIOT Act reauthorization, but today I just want to address one aspect of the Senator's speech, his opposition to administrative subpoena power. In his speech, the Senator argued that any reauthorization should not extend those subpoena powers to FBI terrorism investigators. He correctly noted that Intelligence Committee Chairman Roberts has held hearings about extending this authority, which is common within the Government, to FBI agents investigating terrorism. I was happy to see Chairman Roberts do this because last year I cosponsored S. 2555, the Judicially Enforceable Terrorism Subpoenas Act. On June 22, 2004, I chaired a hearing in the Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security that examined this subpoena power and heard testimony regarding how the subpoenas work and how the government protects civil liberties when using them. One of the things that struck me as I learned about administrative subpoena power was how widespread it is in our Government and how unremarkable a law enforcement tool it really is.…”