Andrew Clyde: “I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to strongly support H.R. 4639, the Fourth Amendment Is…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to strongly support H.R. 4639, the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. This critical bill would prohibit government agencies, including the intelligence community, from purchasing Americans' data from third-party data brokers. U.S. Government agencies are purchasing Americans' data through a loophole with third-party groups when they would otherwise need a warrant. Recently, the Internal Revenue Service purchased records and locations of millions of American cell phones. The FBI purchased geolocation data for mobile advertising. The Cato Institute recently reported that data brokers collect and sell huge amounts of Americans' sensitive information, including whether they have an interest in firearms. Data brokers sell lists--in their words--of ``shooting fanatics'' and ``concealed carry licensed gun owners.'' They even sell information about Americans' interest in political organizations. Government agencies like the FBI purchase this information as a loophole to obtain private information about U.S. citizens without a warrant. Mr. Chair, I am deeply concerned that the practice of buying commercial data could not only threaten Americans' Fourth Amendment rights but could also pose a threat to their Second Amendment freedoms and be used as a way to track and target lawful gun owners in America. We must prevent this. H.R.…”