Wyden to Oppose Patriot Act Renewal
Senator cites strong concerns over significant privacy provisions,lack of appropriate balance between national security and protecting civil liberties
Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today announced his intention to vote against and support efforts to filibuster the conference report reauthorizing the USA Patriot Act, citing concerns about numerous provisions that could compromise Americans' privacy rights that would be made permanent under the legislation. Specifically, Wyden announced his intention today to oppose the legislation because it does not include sunsets for controversial powers and diminishes congressional oversight over the government's use of these powers. "The current version of the report strikes the wrong balance between security and civil liberties and leaves Congress with inadequate oversight," said Wyden. "Just as troubling is the inclusion of new language that will make it much more difficult for law-abiding Americans to defend themselves from possible Patriot Act abuses. These unjustified changes do not make the Patriot Act a more effective tool for fighting terrorism and in fact, make it more susceptible to abuse. I will vote against the current version of the legislation and support efforts to block its passage." Specifically, Wyden cited strong concerns over a number of provisions contained in the conference report that would significantly compromise the privacy rights of law-abiding U.S. citizens. These specific provisions include: • A provision that makes permanent the ability of FBI agents to issue National Security Letters (NSL), or documents issued without the approval of a judge or grand jury, which allows the government to obtain sensitive personal information about law-abiding U.S. citizens; • A requirement that requires anyone who receives a NSL to notify the FBI if s/he consults with an attorney and to identify the attorney to the FBI, potentially resulting in a significant blow to the right to counsel, something that exists nowhere else in law; • A provision to impose criminal penalties on a NSL recipient who speaks out in violation of a NSL gag order, even if s/he believes his rights have been violated; • A measure that fails to require a roving wiretap includes sufficient information to describe in detail the specific person to be wiretapped. While Wyden is an original co-sponsor of the Combat Meth Act that was attached to conference report, he expressed his disappointment that this legislation was attached to the controversial PATRIOT Act. "As a cosponsor of the combat meth legislation, I am disappointed by the politicization of the meth tragedy in this fashion," said Wyden. "I will continue to fight for the passage of the meth bill but not as a part of this badly flawed legislation." Wyden has long been an advocate of boosting national security interests while protecting civil liberties. Earlier this fall, Wyden was successful in stripping out of the Intelligence Authorization Bill of 2005 a provision that would have permitted Pentagon intelligence officials to conduct covert interviews of U.S. persons on American soil to assess them as potential intelligence sources without disclosing their government affiliation. In that legislation, Wyden also succeeded in modifying a provision in the legislation that would permit the intelligence community to request individuals' personal information from other government agencies.
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