The legislation, which passed the House of Representatives 251-174, is entitled the Conference Report on H.R. 3199.

Abercrombie said, “The PATRIOT Act is an unrestricted license for the government to snoop and bully anyone for any reason.  Instead of thoughtfully strengthening laws that actually work to thwart terrorists, Congress is giving government a blank check to trample civil liberties. One of the most troubling aspects of the bill is that there’s no meaningful accountability for these abuses, or even any way to learn of their occurrence.”

Abercrombie said the bill’s most problematic provisions include:

• Making it easier to obtain library records and other sensitive material, allowing the government to go on fishing expeditions.

• Lack of meaningful standards for issuing or challenging National Security Letters.  Over 30,000 National Security Letters are issued every year to banks, internet service providers, insurance companies and other businesses, without court approval.  It treats as “conclusive” the government’s assertion that it needs the information and that the recipient needs to be gagged.

• Allows the government to continue issuing “John Doe” wiretap orders that identify neither a person nor a place as the target.

Abercrombie supports some of the bill’s provisions, but said those benefits were outweighed by the measure’s threat to civil liberties and should be addressed in separate legislation.  Provisions which he supports include: restrictions on sales of over-the-counter cold medications containing ingredients that can be used to make methamphetamines (“ice”); and outlawing laser interference with aircraft.

-30-