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Vote expected this week on Patriot Act amendment

Posted at 2004-07-06 23:34:16 by Declan McCullagh
in Politech category "privacy"

Stephen Cobb forwards an alert saying there may be a House vote this week on a proposal to amend the Patriot Act. Keep reading for the full text. (Note I haven't verified that the vote is still scheduled to happen.)

To: Members of the Book and Library Community

From: Campaign for Reader Privacy, http://www.readerprivacy.org

Re: URGENT - House Votes Next Week on Freedom to Read Amendment!

We have just learned that the U.S. House of Representatives will vote
next week on an amendment that cuts off Justice Department funding for
searches of bookstore and library records under Section 215 of the USA
PATRIOT Act. Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will offer a Freedom to
Read Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Bill of
2005. The amendment is co-sponsored by Ron Paul (R-TX), John Conyers,
Jr. (D-MI), C.L. "Butch" Otter (R-ID), and Jerry Nadler (D-NY).

The prospects for victory appear good. Last year, over 300 House
members voted to bar the Justice Department from using its
appropriation to implement another controversial provision of the
PATRIOT Act, "sneak and peak" searches. Had Bernie not run into
technical problems, he would have offered the Freedom to Read
Amendment then, and it probably would have passed.

But we can't win unless we generate a lot of telephone calls, faxes
and e-mails to House members between now and Wednesday or Thursday
when the CJS bill will be on the floor for a vote. It doesn't help
matters that we have less than a week to get out the word and that the
Fourth of July weekend will shorten our time even more.

Therefore, please call your House member's Washington office TODAY
and tell whoever answers the phone that you urge their boss to vote
"yes" on "the Sanders-Paul-Conyers-Otter-Nadler Freedom to Read
Amendment to the Commerce, Justice and State appropriations bill."
("CJS bill" is the Congressional shorthand for the appropriations
legislation.) Then, immediately follow up by faxing a note containing
the same message on your letterhead.

If you need contact information for your Congress member, you can use
the "Contact Congress" search aid on the Campaign for Reader Privacy
Web site, http://www.readerprivacy.org, or go directly to the
U.S. House of Representatives Web site,
http://www.house.gov/writerep. (You can send an e-mail through the
House Web site, but telephone calls and faxes get more attention.)

Section 215 has created a dangerous chilling effect on First
Amendment rights by giving the FBI the power to secretly search the
bookstore and library records of anyone it believes may have
information relevant to a foreign intelligence investigation. In March
2003, Sanders introduced the Freedom to Read Protection Act
(H.R. 1157) to restore the protections for customer privacy eliminated
by the Patriot Act. The bill has gained wide support and is
co-sponsored by 145 House members in both parties.

However, the House leadership is refusing to hold a hearing on
H.R. 1157. The Freedom to Read Amendment will give supporters of the
bill an opportunity to achieve its purpose through the appropriations
process.

Please help us spread the word about the importance of calling
Congress today! Feel free to forward this memo or to use any part of
it.

Thank you for acting quickly!

Christopher Finan, president
 American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
 139 Fulton St., Suite 302
 New York, NY 10038
 telephone (212) 587-4025
 fax (212) 587-2436
 www.abffe.com
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