March 09, 2005
“First, I want to thank my friend, Congressman Bernie Sanders, for introducing this critical legislation and my colleagues for supporting it. I am proud to join with them as an original co-sponsor of this bill.
“In 2003, Bernie joined me in the Bay Area to spread the word on the importance of protecting the freedom and right to read, and his leadership on this issue has been vital.
“I thank the national and regional book, library, publishing industries, the civil liberties and privacy rights organizations that have endorsed the legislation, and continue to fight for the principles that are the foundation of our country, and I encourage them to keep up the fight.
“Four years ago, 66 of us in the House and one Senator voted against the USA PATRIOT ACT, a dreadful bill that severely limits the civil liberties of Americans.
“Following the September 11th tragedy, Congress hastily signed away our civil liberties without critically reviewing the true impact of these policies.
“The Patriot Act fundamentally altered basic rules about search and seizure, detention, wiretaps, and electronic surveillance.
“Terrorism is a serious issue, and it warrants critical and open debate, not rash, impulsive decision making.
“386 states, counties and cities, including several in my district, passed resolutions expressing their concerns with the anti-privacy and anti-liberty portions of the PATRIOT Act.
“Last year, when the House had voted to approve an amendment introduced by Congressman Sanders to stop this erosion of our civil liberties, the Republican leadership basically changed the rules in order to defeat it. They held the vote open for an extra 23 minutes, they forced Republicans to change their votes and the amendment was voted down. It is just this sort of willingness to play fast and loose with our basic principles that we are opposed to.
“We must not allow our Constitution to become collateral damage in the war on terrorism. And we must not sacrifice our democratic principles hastily.
“It is my sincere hope that at the end of this year, we will be celebrating the passage of this critical legislation, and return to the road of democracy and civil liberties that constitutes our basic principles.
“Thank you.”
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Rep. Barbara Lee Supports Freedom to Read, Opposes Patriot Act
(Washington, DC) – Representative Barbara Lee gave the following statement at a press conference on Capitol Hill today to announce introduction of the Freedom to Read Protection Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) and 108 co-sponsors that would repeal sections of the Patriot Act that allow the federal government to monitor individual’s reading habits by searching the records of bookstores and libraries:“First, I want to thank my friend, Congressman Bernie Sanders, for introducing this critical legislation and my colleagues for supporting it. I am proud to join with them as an original co-sponsor of this bill.
“In 2003, Bernie joined me in the Bay Area to spread the word on the importance of protecting the freedom and right to read, and his leadership on this issue has been vital.
“I thank the national and regional book, library, publishing industries, the civil liberties and privacy rights organizations that have endorsed the legislation, and continue to fight for the principles that are the foundation of our country, and I encourage them to keep up the fight.
“Four years ago, 66 of us in the House and one Senator voted against the USA PATRIOT ACT, a dreadful bill that severely limits the civil liberties of Americans.
“Following the September 11th tragedy, Congress hastily signed away our civil liberties without critically reviewing the true impact of these policies.
“The Patriot Act fundamentally altered basic rules about search and seizure, detention, wiretaps, and electronic surveillance.
“Terrorism is a serious issue, and it warrants critical and open debate, not rash, impulsive decision making.
“386 states, counties and cities, including several in my district, passed resolutions expressing their concerns with the anti-privacy and anti-liberty portions of the PATRIOT Act.
“Last year, when the House had voted to approve an amendment introduced by Congressman Sanders to stop this erosion of our civil liberties, the Republican leadership basically changed the rules in order to defeat it. They held the vote open for an extra 23 minutes, they forced Republicans to change their votes and the amendment was voted down. It is just this sort of willingness to play fast and loose with our basic principles that we are opposed to.
“We must not allow our Constitution to become collateral damage in the war on terrorism. And we must not sacrifice our democratic principles hastily.
“It is my sincere hope that at the end of this year, we will be celebrating the passage of this critical legislation, and return to the road of democracy and civil liberties that constitutes our basic principles.
“Thank you.”
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