John Larson: “I rise today disappointed at the missed opportunity for the House to strike a reasonable balance within the PATRIOT Act…”

“I rise today disappointed at the missed opportunity for the House to strike a reasonable balance within the PATRIOT Act that empowers law enforcement and protects civil liberties. There is more to protecting American's security than peeking into people's reading habits or medical records. Protecting America means securing our ports and borders, supporting our first responders, and ensuring that our transit systems, nuclear power plants and schools are safe from those who seek to do us harm. Frankly, Americans are still at risk. There are large gaps that still remain in critical areas that leave Americans vulnerable to the threat of terrorism. For example: Our greatest threat remains an attack by a weapon of mass destruction. But funding for cooperative threat reduction programs to secure unaccounted for nuclear material in the former Soviet Union have remained stagnant since 9/11, taking a backseat to other priorities like expanding tax cuts and privatizing Social Security. There are almost 2,000 fewer border inspectors and agents than were called for in the 2001 PATRIOT Act. The hard truth is we need more. Of the 2,000 border patrol agents called for in the Intelligence Reform Act, the Republican majority has funded only 500 this year. This leaves our borders dangerously unprotected.…”