Patrick Leahy: “I am pleased to sponsor S. 170, the clone Pager authorization Act, and urge its speedy passage. This bill would enable…”

“I am pleased to sponsor S. 170, the clone Pager authorization Act, and urge its speedy passage. This bill would enable law enforcement officers to gain quicker and easier access to an important investigatory tool, called a clone pager, which has proven invaluable in gathering evidence against gang members, drug traffickers and organized crime members. I was pleased to have helped improve this bill from the version introduced in the last congress. We included it in the juvenile crime bill, S. 15, that I sponsored along with other Democratic Members on the first day of this session and which the Democratic leader designated among our top legislative priorities. While pagers are, of course, used legitimately by millions of people, these devices are relied upon by gangsters and drug dealers to carry on their illicit business from roving offices that enable time to commit crimes no matter where they are at any time of day or night. Indeed, pagers are so popular among drug traffickers, these devices are considered a regular tool of the drug trade. A clone pager is programmed identically to the pager used by a suspected criminal so that it displays the same numbers transmitted to, and displayed on, the suspect's pager. A law enforcement officer using the clone pager is thereby able to receive the identical pager message at the same time as the targeted criminal.”