Sanders amendment defeated

Many of you have probably heard about the defeat of Bernie's amendment to the 
Commerce, Justice, State, et al Appropriations Bill, and how it was 
accomplished by holding an open (arm-twisting) vote.

The amendment:
TITLE VIII--ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONS 

    SEC. 801. None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to make 
an application under section 501 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 
of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1861) for an order requiring the production of library 
circulation records, library patron lists, library Internet records, book sales 
records, or book customer lists.


Opponents of this amendment produced a letter from the Justice Department:

Washington, DC, July 8, 2004. 
Hon. F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, Jr., 
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, 
House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

   DEAR CHAIRMAN SENSENBRENNER: In anticipation of the U.S. House of 
Representatives' consideration of an amendment that would prevent the Justice 
Department from obtaining records from public libraries and bookstores under 
section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, your staff has recently inquired about 
whether terrorists have ever utilized public library facilities to communicate 
with others about committing acts of terrorism. The short answer is ``Yes.'' 

   You should know we have confirmed that, as recently as this past winter and 
spring, a member of a terrorist group closely affiliated with al Qaeda used 
internet services provided by a public library. This terrorist used the 
library's computer to communicate with his confederates. Beyond this, we are 
unable to comment. 

   We hope this information is useful to you and your colleagues as you 
consider amendments relating to the USA Patriot Act. 

   Sincerely, 

   William E. Moschella, 
Assistant Attorney General. 


This letter is extremely vague, but it was enough to stir the fears of many 
legislators.  

Oh, and by the way, Rep. Wolf would like you all to know:

The number to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has been and 
continues to be publicly listed and available to anybody who wants to call from 
around the world. If you have experienced a specific problem with the PATRIOT 
Act, you can now call us at our toll-free number. It only costs the taxpayers. 
The number is 1-877-858-9040. We will be happy to receive comments and exercise 
our congressional right to oversight as appropriate. 

-x

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