"Mr. Speaker, later this afternoon we will consider additional reauthorizing amendments to the PATRIOT Act. The PATRIOT Act Conference Report is a balance between liberty and security. Chairman Sensenbrenner and those of us serving on the House Judiciary Committee dedicated ourselves to achieving this end. The additional safeguards that we will agree to today will further enhance the safety and security of the American people, and I enthusiastically support that. It is time, after two extensions and a debate worthy of the high standards of American democracy, that we send the PATRIOT Act to the President for his signature.

"We all lived through September 11th. I was here at the Capitol that day. I saw the evil of our enemies written in the smoke rising above the Pentagon. And we are reminded yet today that their desire to do such violence in our homeland and in the homeland of our allies is real.

"Since September 11th, we have seen attacks on buses and subway cars in London, attacks on commuter trains in Madrid, hotel bombings in Amman, and nightclub bombings in Bali. Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have spoken recently in videotapes expressing their desire to bring further terrorist destruction upon America. There is no doubt that we are under an extreme threat each day. However, there also is no doubt about America’s determination to protect itself.

"Just recently the President recounted how a planned al Qaeda attack on an office tower in Los Angeles was thwarted, thanks in part to the tools provided under the PATRIOT Act. The information sharing provisions of the PATRIOT Act also have enabled investigators to break-up terror cells in Portland, Oregon and Lackawanna, New York. Thwarting terrorist attacks such as these at home is accomplished by the hard work of the men and women in the law enforcement and intelligence communities. But, it also is done by making sure that these brave men and women have available to them the powers necessary to do the job, such as those in the PATRIOT Act.

"For that reason, making permanent 14 of the 16 expiring PATRIOT Act provisions is so important. The two remaining provisions, Section 206 which authorizes roving wiretaps used by law enforcement to perform surveillance on terrorists or spies who throw away their cell phones and change locations frequently and Section 215 which authorizes the FBI to ask the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts to issue an order for business records of terrorists to be used by the FBI in its investigations, are extended for four years.

"We must equip law enforcement and intelligence officials with the tools necessary for them to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. We also must safeguard the precious civil rights and liberties that make our lives so free and fulfilling. We are doing both today. Mr. Speaker, our solemn duty is to protect Americans from terrorists and safeguard their civil liberties, and today we fulfill that duty by passing this bill and sending the reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act to the President to sign."

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