Arlen Specter: “permit me to interject very briefly just to correct some of the misstatements which have been made that crop up again…”

“permit me to interject very briefly just to correct some of the misstatements which have been made that crop up again and again. This bill is not understood. This bill is not understood by Senators who are making representations on the floor which are not correct. I don't suggest they are doing it deliberately, but they don't know the bill. The argument has been made that the recipient of a national security letter has to tell the FBI the identity of his lawyer. That is simply not true. The conference report reads: In no circumstance shall a person be required to inform the Director of the FBI or such designee that the person intends to consult an attorney to obtain legal advice or legal assistance. The representation is made here again and again that in section 215, there does not have to be a connection to a terrorism investigation or someone suspected of being a terrorist. The conference report does add a provision to the three criteria for foreign power, but the court has to make a determination on a factual showing that there is a terrorism investigation that does involve foreigners and that records are sought from another person, albeit not identified with one of the three criteria, in order to carry on the investigation. Again and again, the essence of the protection of civil rights traditionally has been that you interpose an impartial magistrate between the policeman and the citizen, and that protection is given under section 215.…”