Jim Sensenbrenner: “this motion to recommit should be defeated as the amendment was defeated, and the reason is that section 215, which this…”

“this motion to recommit should be defeated as the amendment was defeated, and the reason is that section 215, which this amendment proposes to defund, provides more rights to public libraries and booksellers than a grand jury subpoena would. Let us look at what section 215 does. First, it requires the FBI to get a court order. To get a court order, a judge has to be convinced that the court order is necessary, and the burden of proof is on the Justice Department. The section has a narrow scope. It can only be used to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. That is what this motion to recommit proposes to do away with. So the people who are being protected are not United States persons, and people who are engaged in international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities. Section 215 cannot be used to investigate ordinary crimes or even domestic terrorists. The section preserves first amendment rights, and it expressly provides that the FBI cannot conduct investigations of United States persons solely on the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Now, if section 215 goes down, then the Justice Department can get a grand jury subpoena.”