CRP Urges Congress to Make 'Critical Changes' to Patriot Act

With the deadline for the House and Senate votes on the Patriot Act reauthorization looming and House and Senate negotiations over the report at a standstill as reported by the Washington Post, the push to ensure that the reauthorized USA Patriot Act protects readers' right to privacy has begun.

On Tuesday, January 24, the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP) -- the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, and PEN American Center -- faxed Congressional members and urged them to make certain that the reauthorized version of Section 215 safeguards the rights of readers. On Thursday, January 26, ABA COO Oren Teicher wrote a letter to ABA member booksellers asking them to let their House and Senate members know that they support the reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in June. The letter includes a link to talking points and a link to a form letter that booksellers can adapt.

At present, the House vote on the Patriot Act Reauthorization conference report is less than a week away, Wednesday, February 1, and the vote in the Senate should take place by midnight on Friday, February 3. It is possible, however, that Congress may simply continue to extend these deadlines, and a final vote on a permanent reauthorization could happen later in the year.

In the letter to booksellers, Teicher wrote: "Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act is set to expire on February 3, and once again ABA and its partners in [CRP] need your help....

"Booksellers, librarians, and other friends of reader privacy won several key battles last year. In June, we convinced the House of Representatives to pass Bernie Sanders' Freedom to Read Amendment. In July, the Senate approved a Patriot reauthorization bill that restricts bookstore and library searches to the records of people who are suspected of terrorism. Then, shortly before Christmas, we helped block the passage of a reauthorization bill that did not contain adequate protections for reader privacy despite repeated demands for its passage by President Bush.

"If you had asked me in June whether we would win even one of these battles, I would have said the odds were heavily against us. In blocking reauthorization, we achieved nothing short of a political miracle."

Pointing out that it is not known what kind of Patriot Act bill the House and Senate will be voting on next week or whether Congress will agree to another short extension, Teicher stressed: "We are absolutely clear about the changes we want before the FBI can obtain a bookstore or library search order using Section 215." These changes are:

• a requirement that the FBI demonstrate that the person whose records are sought is suspected of terrorism;
  
• a provision authorizing booksellers and librarians to challenge overly broad Section 215 orders in court; and
• a limit on the gag orders that are imposed on booksellers and librarians who receive Section 215 orders.

In conclusion, Teicher noted, "We are asking you to clear your throat and take up your pen once again. Between now and February 3, it is critical that you personally communicate with your House and Senate members. The message is a simple one: We support the reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in June and oppose the conference report agreed to by House and Senate negotiators that left out the most important safeguards for reader privacy."

In the letter to Congressional members -- which was signed by Mitchell Kaplan, president, ABA; Michael Gorman, president, American Library Association; Patricia S. Schroeder, president and chief executive officer, Association of American Publishers; and Salman Rushdie, president, PEN American Center -- the CRP sponsors write:

"Since the Patriot Act became law, we have known that federal investigators could learn what we, our organizations' members, and the millions of readers we serve are researching or reading. We knew that our bookstore, library, and Internet records could be obtained even if we were not suspected of involvement in terrorism; that no avenue existed for those who receive Patriot Act orders to challenge them in court; and that a gag provision would prevent booksellers, librarians, and Internet providers from telling us that our records had been sought....

"What we didn't know ... was how cavalierly the administration viewed even the fragile judicial checks in Section 215 of the Patriot Act.... It is only recently that we have learned how heavily the FBI has relied on National Security Letters (NSLs) to gather information, with FBI agents reportedly writing themselves over 30,000 of these orders a year. And only last month did we learn that the White House has bypassed the Patriot Act, the system established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and the FBI completely in a massive domestic surveillance and data-mining operation."

The CRP sponsors conclude: "We urge Congress to act resolutely to clarify the limits of the surveillance powers it has authorized under the Patriot Act, other antiterrorism measures, and Congressional resolutions authorizing military action, and to bring all surveillance operations within the scope of established law and subject to judicial and congressional review."

Letter to Booksellers from Oren Teicher