Jane Harman: “although I have expressed serious concerns about our government's ability to search library and book store records, I do…”

“although I have expressed serious concerns about our government's ability to search library and book store records, I do not believe that the Sanders amendment is the proper vehicle for addressing this concern. I will reluctantly oppose it. The PATRIOT Act is a flawed law. It was passed just 7 weeks after September 11, 2001, without meaningful debate about how its new, wide-ranging powers would impact civil liberties. The Act contains some important provisions, such as modernizing law enforcement tools. But it also contains some highly problematic provisions, such as those that potentially give law enforcement officials a license to go on fishing expeditions for personal information unrelated to terrorism. I believe we must carefully review the PATRIOT Act when it comes up for reauthorization next year. Congress should decide which provisions are necessary to win the war on terrorism, and which are unnecessarily harmful to civil liberties. This process should not be done 'on the fly' in the middle of an election year, before we have an opportunity to understand the Act's full ramifications. That is why I also oppose any effort to make permanent the PATRIOT Act. We adopted this bill in a rush. We wisely included sunset provisions that kick-in after sufficient time has passed to allow us to carefully assess the effectiveness of the provisions and their impact on civil liberties.”