Nadler Opposes Hearing-Free Extension Of Patriot Act Spying Powers
This afternoon, Congressman Jerrold Nadler rose to speak against the passage of H.R. 514, a bill to renew the most abusive provisions of the Patriot Act. It has been recently revealed that, over a seven-year period, there were tens of thousands of purposeful violations by the FBI of Americans’ rights in the execution of the Patriot Act. It has been further demonstrated that the Patriot Act’s spying powers are being used almost exclusively for surveillance that is not even alleged to be related to terrorist activity in any way. Only a fraction of one percent of all Patriot Act spying have been related to alleged terrorist plots.
Nadler pointed out that House Republicans are attempting to pass H.R. 514 in defiance of their own rules. The legislation is being voted on without any hearing to examine how Patriot Act powers are being actually used by the government, and without any markup that could reform the Patriot Act to make it more effective and less abusive of Americans’ constitutional rights. He also discussed the clear violation of the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment inherent in the Patriot Act’s Section 215, which requires evidence for reasonable suspicion before government seizure of Americans’ personal records.
Nadler stated,
“I cannot support this extension when the House has done nothing to consider these provisions or possible reforms or even to hold a hearing or a markup. While in the past, members have had the opportunity to receive classified briefings, we have dozens of new members who have received no such briefings.
Section 215 authorizes the government to obtain any tangible thing relevant to a terrorism investigation, even if there is no showing that the thing pertains to suspected terrorists or terrorist activities. It is sweeping in its scope, and the government is not required to show reasonable suspicion or probable cause before undertaking an investigation that infringes upon a person’s privacy, including the records of what he’s read in the library.
Congress should either ensure that things collected with this power have a meaningful nexus with suspected terrorist activity or allow the provision to expire.”
