Bob Barr: “on April 21, 2002, I introduced H.R. 4561, the ``Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act.'' I was pleased to be joined…”

“on April 21, 2002, I introduced H.R. 4561, the ``Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act.'' I was pleased to be joined by several cosponsors on the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, including the distinguished Ranking Member Mel Watt, and Representatives Chabot, Gekas, Nadler, and Green. Since its introduction, the bill has garnered the support of an additional 37 members of Congress, including Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Ranking Member John Conyers, and several other distinguished members of Congress. It is clear that this bill's many cosponsors do not agree on every issue. In fact, many observers have been particularly impressed by the political diversity of its legislative sponsors. The same can be said of the bill's noncongressional supporters, which include groups ranging from the National Rifle Association to the Electronic Privacy Information Center--from the Eagle Forum to the American Civil Liberties Union. Supporters share a commitment to protecting the privacy cherished by American citizens--a value increasingly imperiled in an information age in which personal information is captured and compiled, manipulated and misused, bought and sold in ways unimagined just a few years ago. The sphere of privacy, which Justice Brandeis eloquently described as the ``right to be let alone,'' is not only rapidly diminishing, it is increasingly penetrable.”