Jane Harman: “I thank the sponsor of the amendment for yielding me this time, and I also appreciate the comments of the chairman in…”

“I thank the sponsor of the amendment for yielding me this time, and I also appreciate the comments of the chairman in the debate that just preceded this. Mr. Chairman, in past years, I have opposed the Sanders amendment on two grounds. First, I felt the appropriate time to revise the PATRIOT Act was this year, because key provisions are sunsetting this year. Second, as ranking member on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I know, as the gentleman from Virginia (Chairman Wolf) also knows, that terrorists use Internet sites to communicate, and believe law enforcement needs to access terrorist traffic on these sites. This year, the amendment's sponsors have eliminated reference to library Internet sites, and their amendment arises as Congress undertakes a serious review of the PATRIOT Act. Because the amendment has been altered and the timing is right, I am pleased to support it. Law enforcement must have the ability to prevent and disrupt terrorist plots on our soil, but this is a sensible amendment for the following reasons: first, section 215, as currently written, is unnecessarily broad. It permits the government to obtain ``any tangible thing'' as long as it is ``sought for'' a terrorist investigation. This is a sweeping power which even the Justice Department agrees can be cut back.…”