Tom Feeney: “there are two things that we can say conclusively since the enactment of the PATRIOT Act. Number one, there has not been…”

“there are two things that we can say conclusively since the enactment of the PATRIOT Act. Number one, there has not been another 9/11 attack, thanks in part to the PATRIOT Act and other tools that we have given the law enforcement community here in the United States. And number two, there has been a great deal of hysteria generated around the words ``PATRIOT Act.'' Very little of the actual complaints can ever be pointed to with respect to anything that the PATRIOT Act did, but there is enormous amount of hysteria. For example, the very name of this amendment, the Freedom to Read Act, implies that somehow there is something anywhere in the PATRIOT Act that denies us the freedom to read anything we want. Of course the PATRIOT Act does not do any such thing. We have heard here today that we need to have some showing of probable cause to protect American citizens' privacy. Well, I need to tell you that probable cause is a fine standard after a crime has been committed. The people that believe probable cause is the appropriate thing to demonstrate would have us wait until the next 9/11 attack until we can take efforts and steps to defend ourselves. That does not work when you are dealing with terrorism. Folks, the next 9/11-type attack may not be a plane full of citizens. It may be full of biological or chemical or nuclear weapons. And 3,000 deaths may pale in comparison to the devastation that could be heaped upon American metropolitan areas in the next attack.…”