Joe Biden: “I rise in support of Senator Lieberman's amendment, which I believe will improve the current authority for what are…”

“I rise in support of Senator Lieberman's amendment, which I believe will improve the current authority for what are known as roving, or multipoint, wiretap orders. This provision was proposed by the President, but is not included in the Republican substitute. Right now, all that has to be proven is there is an intent to evade. All we are saying is if the effect is evasion, and the effect is avoiding the tap on the phone that they think may be tapped, that they be able to do it based on the effect, not having to prove an intent to thwart eavesdropping. This still requires an initial finding that this guy is probably a bad guy. It still requires a judge to say that there is probable cause to look at this guy. Civil libertarians should not worry, law enforcement should be encouraged, and the American people should feel some mild additional sense of security in being able to do what the Senator from Connecticut is suggesting that the President very badly wants, and that was deleted from the bill.”