Following the events of September 11th, there has been a rush to secure our nation against another large-scale terrorist attack. Lawmakers have worked closely with the Bush Administration to identify the cause of the intelligence failures and the lack of communication between law enforcement agencies and enact a solution that would prevent similar attacks in the future.

Congress is providing annual oversight to the new powers given to law enforcement and the intelligence community to make sure that these powers do not violate the civil liberties of law-abiding citizens. Within the newly formed Department of Homeland Security are a number of other measures that prevent overreaching programs and powers that would violate the most basic right that American citizens enjoy, the right to privacy.

H.R. 5005, which establishes the Department of Homeland Security, does not in any way authorize the Department of Defense program known as "Total Information Awareness" (TIA), which would track the lawful transactions of American citizens. In fact, Section 892 of the bill prohibits the sharing of any information that would undermine the constitutional protections of our citizens, which ensures the Department could never undertake such a program. It also creates a privacy officer to ensure that similar programs never get off the ground in this Department.

This bill prohibits the government from requiring Americans to carry national identification cards and also eliminates the proposed Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System) that would have enlisted mail carriers, utility meter-readers and others with access to private homes to report suspicious activities of their neighbors and clients. I will work hard to make sure that the law enforcement community and agencies of the federal government make appropriate use of their powers.