On the recordFebruary 25, 2010
I rise today because I think we are missing an opportunity. There are good ideas in this House about how to curb the abuses with national security letters, how to clarify that roving wiretaps are limited to a single identifiable target, and how to eliminate the lone wolf provision which has never been used and for which existing title III authority can suffice. Those ideas have been the subject of hearings in the Judiciary Committee, but they're not being debated on this floor. Instead, we hear that the only way to protect America is to extend the PATRIOT Act as is for another year. We could have extended it for a shorter period and fully debated how to amend the PATRIOT Act on this floor. I think this is a real missed opportunity.
