The issue of privacy is a deeply held core value of the American people. I've posted this privacy statement to not only demonstrate my firm commitment to protecting your privacy but also to clearly define how we carry out a privacy policy for our constituents.

If you visit our site we collect and store only the following information:

• The name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are connecting from an America Online account).
• The date and time you access our site.
• The Internet address of the web site that you linked directly to our site from, or the Internet address of the computer used to link to our site.

This information is used for Site Management purposes. Our government computer system uses software programs to create summary statistics using this information. These statistics are used for such purposes as assessing the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas.

NOTE: We will not obtain personally-identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information.

If you send an E-mail message or complete a web form which contains personal information, we collect and store the following information:

• Any personally-identifying information which you choose to provide, i.e. your mailing address in an electronic mail message or web form, requesting information or commenting on current legislative issues. Information collected in this manner is used solely for information and, in some cases, to respond to you. Please also see Security and Policy Notices posted on individual Member, Committee and other House office web sites for information on how individual offices may use the data you choose to provide them via forms on their sites.

NOTE: For site security purposes this government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic. Anyone using this system consents to the monitoring of their use by system or security personnel.

• Unauthorized use, tampering with, or modification of this system -- or its supporting hardware or software -- may violate federal or other statutes and may subject the violator to criminal and civil penalties. In the event of unauthorized intrusion, all relevant information regarding possible violation of law may be provided to law enforcement officials.