Key Vote

PATRIOT Act Reauthorization

As a Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a former law enforcement officer, I understand the importance of the tools we have given to law enforcement to fight the war on terrorism. But I also recognize the critical need to strike a balance between making America secure and protecting the civil liberties of Americans.

During Intelligence Committee consideration of the PATRIOT Act, I joined my fellow Committee Democrats to support five amendments we felt would both strike the balance between security and privacy and allow Congress to conduct adequate oversight. I voted for these amendments to tighten standards for surveillance and searches and to sunset (require Congress to reconsider the program after a given period of time) the most controversial provisions. Several of these amendments were defeated by the Republican majority.

Every step of the way, we have been in consultation with our Democratic Senate colleagues. Although we had reservations about certain provisions included in the legislation reported out of Committee, my Democratic colleagues on the House Intelligence Committee, my Democratic Senate colleagues, and I concluded we should support passage of the bill in the House and then attempt to improve it in Conference. We believed it was imperative to move the legislation forward so that essential law enforcement tools would not lapse. I made that tough decision – along with 44 other House Democrats, including the Democratic Whip, the Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the majority of Democrats on the Intelligence Committee – because I believed it was important for the security of all Americans.