国会记录:2003年3月12日(延长)页E441-E442自由阅读保护法案______佛蒙特州的伯纳德·桑德斯先生于2003年3月12日星期三在众议院。议长先生，我想和大家分享一下我3月3日在介绍中美关系时所说的一些话自由阅读保护法案。这项立法现在有28个共同发起人，并得到了美国图书馆协会、美国书商协会和全国各地的报纸的支持。是的，我们必须尽我们所能保护美国人民免受恐怖主义袭击，但我们可以以保护我们公民的基本宪法权利的方式来做到这一点。众议员伯尼·桑德斯关于引入自由阅读保护法案下午好，谢谢你今天在这里加入我们，宣布引入读取保护法案的自由 - 立法，这将保护图书馆，书店和他们的顾客从不合理的政府监督进入美国人正在阅读和购买的书籍和什么网站使用库计算机时可能会访问它们。让我开始感谢大会今天在这里加入我的国会。我还要感谢美国书商协会的Chris Finan和Emily Sheketoff--美国图书馆协会华盛顿办事处执行董事 - 加入我们。我也很高兴Trina Magi  - 来自佛蒙特大学的图书管理员 - 佛蒙特州的书店所有者，佛蒙特州的书店所有者，佛蒙特州是新英格兰商业集团协会的总统，今天与我们在一起。让我还祝贺这一国家的62个城镇，他们在这个问题上通过了决议 - 而该数字正在迅速增长。该努力由权利法案委员会正在协调，委员会理解，公民自由和宪法权利不仅是国家问题，而且是一个地方问题。我还要感谢众多报纸的编辑委员会在这个国家谈论这一自由读取问题 - 包括洛杉矶时报，底特律自由媒体，檀香山观察者，普罗维登斯杂志 - 公告，喀里多尼亚记录，谷新闻。我们今天推出的Tri-Partisan立法 - 称为读取保护法案的自由 - 将保护美国公民的隐私和第一修正权利对不必要的政府入侵。 Specifically, this legislation will exempt libraries and bookstores from Section 215 of the so-called ``Patriot Act.'' The Freedom to Read Protection Act is being introduced by 24 members of Congress including Republican Ron Paul of Texas, and Congressman John Conyers, the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee. They are both unable to join us today but I do want to recognize their support and leadership in protecting civil liberties. I am confident that in the days and weeks to come we will add many more cosponsors. One of the cornerstones of our democracy is our right of Americans to criticize their government, and to read printed materials without fear of government monitoring and intrusion. Yes, all of us concerned about terrorism and all of us are determined to do all that we can to protect the American people from another terrorist attack. But, the threat of terrorism must not be used as an excuse by the government to intrude on our basic constitutional rights. We can fight terrorism, but we can do it at the same time as we protect the civil liberties that have made our country great. Unfortunately, the Patriot Act has changed all that. Section 215 of the Patriot Act greatly expanded the FBI's ability to get records from all businesses, including libraries and booksellers, without meeting the traditional standard needed to get a search warrant in the United States. This is a very dangerous situation. Today, all the FBI has to claim is that the information they want is somehow relevant to an investigation to protect against international terrorism. This is an extremely low threshold for government intrusion and average Americans should be extremely concerned. The reason they should care is that Section 215 does not just apply to terrorists or even foreigners or agents of foreign powers. Under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the person whose records are being searched by the FBI can be anyone. The FBI doesn't even have to say that it believes the person is involved in criminal activity or that the person is connected to a foreign power. Even more frightening, the FBI can investigate American citizens based in part on an American's exercise of his or her First Amendment Rights, such as writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper or reading books the government may not approve of. And the traditional legal protections, that have been embodied in our Constitution for hundreds of years, no longer apply. The government can gain access to our reading records through the secret FISA court which was created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1978 and which is off limits to the public. There's no way to know how many times the FBI has spied on library or bookseller records or whose records they have reviewed. In fact, Section 215 prevents librarians and booksellers from telling their customers that their privacy has been violated. Who would have thought that in 21st Century America, the government could gain access to library circulation records and bookseller customer records with no evidence that the person whose records they are getting is involved in any wrongdoing, that all of this would be handled through a secret government court, and that the librarians and booksellers would be compelled by the law not to let anyone know that the government had swooped in to get their records? Now some may ask how the federal government is using this new power. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are also interested in that question and have pressured the Justice Department to show how [[Page E442]] they are using these new powers. The information they have received after months of badgering the Department is inadequate. The Justice Department claimed most of the information regarding libraries and bookstores was ``confidential,'' and could not be provided. This past October, several national organizations, including the American Booksellers Association, filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get statistical information, such as how many times the government has used its expanded surveillance authority under the Patriot Act. In January, a very limited amount of information was released to these groups and they are continuing to push for a more complete disclosure. Importantly, an anonymous survey done by the University of Illinois found that over 175 libraries across the country have been visited by federal authorities since the September 11th attacks. How is the Congress and the public supposed to make sure that these new powers are not being abused when we do not even know how often they are being invoked and the types of institutions that are being investigated? For many people who can not afford to buy books or have the Internet at home the library is critical to their ability to access to information. Many librarians and booksellers now fear that patrons have begun to self-censor their library use and book purchases due to fears of government surveillance. We need to remove libraries and booksellers from Section 215 so that Americans know their freedom to access information won't be improperly scrutinized by federal agents. Let us be clear. The FBI would still be able to gain access to library or bookseller records as part of an investigation into illegal activity. All our bill does is restore the traditional protections that Americans expect and deserve. If the FBI has probable cause to believe that information in a library or bookseller's records or computers is connected to an ongoing criminal investigation or terrorism investigation, they can go to court and get a search warrant. In addition, the bill requires that the Justice Department provide more detailed information about its activities under Section 215 so we can determine how the FBI is using its new powers under Section 215. Let me conclude by saying that all of us support protecting Americans from terrorism. But we do not win against terrorists by abandoning our most basic civil liberties. We cannot be an example of freedom for the world when our own government is spying on what Americans are reading. ____________________