Orrin Hatch: “I rise to address briefly a couple of the points made by the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin. First, what he called…”

“I rise to address briefly a couple of the points made by the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin. First, what he called a ``sneak and peek'' search warrant, these warrants are already used throughout the United States, throughout our whole country. The bill simply codifies and clarifies the practice making certain that only a Federal court, not an agent or prosecutor, can authorize such a warrant. Let me be clear. Courts already allow warrants under our fourth amendment. It is totally constitutional. It has been held so almost from the beginning of this country; some will say from the beginning of this country. Together with Senator Leahy, we carefully drafted a provision that standardizes this widely accepted practice. Second, to respond to the suggestion that the legislation is not properly mindful of our constitutional liberties--my friend from Wisconsin talks theoretically about maybe the loss of some civil liberties--I would like to talk concretely about the loss of liberty of almost 6,000 people because of the terrorist acts on September 11. I am a little bit more concerned right now about their loss of life. I am even more concerned now that they have lost their lives that thousands of other Americans don't lose their lives because we fail to act and fail to give law enforcement the tools that are essential. It is a nice thing to talk about theory. But we have to talk about reality.”