Barbara Boxer: “I voted for the conference report because on balance I believe it is necessary legislation to give our law enforcement…”

“I voted for the conference report because on balance I believe it is necessary legislation to give our law enforcement officials the tools they need to protect the American people from terrorist attacks. Before the Patriot Act, various law enforcement agencies did not have the ability to share information and work together, and this was a vulnerability that needed to be fixed after 9/11. But this was a difficult decision. The bill had flaws, and two in particular concern me the most the so-called ``sneak and peek'' and library search provisions. Given my concerns about these provisions, I voted for every opportunity to make further improvements to the bill. But ultimately I believe that by voting for the conference report I will be in a stronger position to help improve the Patriot Act in the future, working with Judiciary Committee Chairman Specter, Ranking Member Leahy and Senators Feingold and Sununu. I also wanted to show my support for Senator Dianne Feinstein's anti- methamphetamine bill, which was included in the conference report. Meth has become a terrible scourge across our country and Senator Feinstein's bill will go a long way to combat the spread of the drug by restricting access to the ingredients used to make meth.”