Jay Inslee: “we have an amendment that will cure a modest imperfection that occurred essentially due to the PATRIOT Act. It is…”

“we have an amendment that will cure a modest imperfection that occurred essentially due to the PATRIOT Act. It is something that I think actually may have been an oversight, but it is something we would like to take a shot at solving today. Mr. Chairman, while the FBI for years has been allowed to have access to our credit reports, we have wisely included certain conditions in the law about the FBI being able to dial up and get access to citizens' credit reports. There is a requirement that there be a sign-off by the Director or someone appointed by the Director, and that there be a report to Congress and that there be payment to the credit reporting agency for the costs associated with sharing the information. These are reasonable conditions and requirements for privacy concerns. Unfortunately, when we adopted the PATRIOT Act, we did not include those conditions, those privacy protections, when it applied to the ability now for the Treasury Department and a host of other investigatory agencies who can now essentially call up and get citizens' reports. So our amendment would simply require the same privacy protections that apply to the FBI's getting access to our credit reports to other investigatory agencies.”