Political Quotes

“I rise in deep concern over a provision in this legislation. Like most of my colleagues, I supported H.R. 2417 when it came before the House in June; but after tertiary review, I find that there is a provision in the bill that potentially has long-reaching effects on civil liberties. H.R. 2417 includes a provision that would expand the FBI's power to demand financial records, without a judge's approval, to a large range of businesses, vastly wider than their current authority. Right now the FBI has the authority to serve subpoenas to traditional financial institutions when investigating terrorism and counterintelligence without having to seek a judge's approval. The law understands the phrase 'financial institutions' as we do: banks, loan companies, savings associations and credit unions. Currently, these are the types of institutions subject to administrative subpoenas. The provision in this bill, however, uses a definition of financial institutions to decide what organizations are subject to administrative subpoenas. Under this bill, not only are the traditional financial institutions like banks and credit unions affected but so are pawnbrokers, casinos, vehicle salesmen, real estate agents, telegraph companies, travel agencies, the U.S. Postal Service, just to name but a few.”