An Urgent Request From ABFFE President Chris Finan

Dear Booksellers,

Congressman Bernie Sanders needs your help today. He is trying to win approval for an amendment that denies funds for conducting searches of bookstore and library records under the USA Patriot Act.

Although Sanders initially failed to get this amendment added to the Justice Department's appropriations bill in July, he was successful in attaching it to another spending measure. He is now trying to make sure that the amendment is included in the final appropriations bill that is negotiated with the Senate.

To achieve this, he has written a letter to the chairman of an appropriations subcommittee and is currently circulating it for signatures among his colleagues in the House. Here is a link to the letter, http://bordc.org/dearcoll1103.pdf.

Bernie needs your Congress member's support! Please call today and ask him or her to sign the Sanders-Otter-Conyers letter. This is particularly important if your representative is already a sponsor of Bernie's Freedom to Read Protection Act. But everyone should call. If you don't know who your Congress member is, use this link, http://www.house.gov/.

The "Dear Colleague" letter must be sent to the appropriations subcommittee on Monday, so please call immediately.

Thank you!

Chris

P.S. The "Dear Colleague" letter also urges the adoption of Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter's amendment limiting the use of secret search warrants authorized by the Patriot Act. ABFFE has not taken a position on the Otter amendment. However, ACLU and other civil liberties group have urged its adoption. It was approved by the House in July by a vote of 309-118.