Washington, D.C. - Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) released the following statement today amid recent media reports that appear to mischaracterize legislation regarding the USA Patriot Act:
“I voted against the Conference Report that extends the USA Patriot Act, H.R. 3199, which passed the House on December 14, 2005, because of several provisions in the Conference Report that fail to provide adequate safeguards to ensure that the privacy rights of innocent citizens are protected.
“When the Senate began consideration of the Conference Report a significant number of Senators insisted on improvements as a condition for their support of the passage of the Conference Report. These Conference Report improvements were inserted in a separate bill, S.2271.
“S.2271 provides judicial review of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) production and nondisclosure orders, clarifies that libraries that operate in traditional roles (and not as Internet service providers) would not be the subject of National Security Letters, and repeals the requirement that a recipient of a National Security Letter disclose the identity of their attorney. S.2271 was passed by an overwhelming majority of Senators by a vote of 95 to 4.
“While I believe that other improvements need to be made to the Conference Report, S. 2271 is a step in the right direction and, therefore, I voted for it and will continue to support any other legislation that restores the protection of our basic civil liberties as we combat terrorism."
