Obama Statement on the PATRIOT Act
Friday, December 16, 2005
Printable FormatFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Obama Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green, (312) 886-3506
Date: December 16, 2005
Obama Statement on the PATRIOT Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the PATRIOT Act:
"Earlier this year, the Senate passed legislation to strengthen the PATRIOT Act by implementing some common sense safeguards that would protect our civil liberties while still ensuring that our law enforcement has the tools it needs to fight terrorism. This legislation would have simply required federal agents to convince a judge that a search of sensitive personal information is reasonable and somehow connected to terrorism or espionage. And if an American is told that their personal information and private records must be searched, this bill would give them the opportunity to challenge this search in a court of law. It would also require the government to notify a person within seven days when it has gone into that person's home and taken their records or possessions, as opposed to the thirty days it has now.
"Giving law enforcement the tools they need to investigate suspicious activity is the right thing, and the Senate showed earlier this year that it can be done with the oversight of our judicial system so we do not jeopardize the rights of all Americans and the ideals America stands for. We should not let the PATRIOT Act expire at the end of this year, but instead extend the current law for three months so that we can come to an agreement on these critical issues in Congress."
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Read Thursday's full Senate floor statement on the PATRIOT Act.