ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ July/August 2003 1475 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley Congressional proposals addressing li­ brary problems w ith the USA PATRIOT Act T here are m any types o f advocacy activities that academic librarians and their campus colleagues can be involved in over the summer. O ne o f the main areas o f concern is seeking cosponsors for four dif­ ferent bills before Congress that address the library com m unity’s concerns w ith the USA PA TRIO T A C T and its implementation by the FBI. Two bills are in the House, two are in the Senate, and each is slighdy different. Introduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in March 2003, H .R . 1157, the Freedom to Read Pro­ tection Act, has over 114 cosponsors, including sev­ eral key Republicans. H .R . 1157 would return the standards for the FBI to get a court order for busi­ ness records from libraries and booksellers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to those in place prior to passage o f Section 215 of the USA PA TRIO T Act. T h e FBI would be re­ quired to provide “specific and articulable facts” giving reason to believe that the person to whom the records pertained is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power and required to specify that the records sought are being sought for “an investiga­ tion to gather foreign intelligence information or an investigation concerning international terrorism.” T h e USA P A T R IO T A ct lowered the legal standard for the FBI to secure a FISA c ourt order to obtain any tangible th in g pertaining to anyone (not ju st foreign powers and foreign agents), and the FBI has only to specify th at the records are sought for an investigation “to o b tain foreign intelligence inform ation n o t concerning a U nited States person or to p rotect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.” W hile the A ct says th at no A m erican citizen or p e rm anent resident m ay be investigated “solely” upon the basis o f activities protected by the First A m endm ent, the A ct allows the FBI to sweep up records a nd inform ation broadly and these may include records o f activities protected by the First A m endm ent. H .R . 1157 also calls for public re­ po rting to determ ine how provisions o f the USA PA TR IO T Act are being im plem ented in order to better assess civil liberties im plications. Lynne E. Bradley is Office of Government Relations director of ALA’s Washington Office, e-mail: leb@alawash.org In May, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) intro­ duced S .l 158, the “Library and Bookseller Protec­ tion Act.” T he purpose o f this bill is to ensure that libraries and bookstores are subjected only to the regular system o f court-ordered warrants. T he bill would: 1) exempt bookstores and libraries from FISA court orders requiring the production o f tan­ gible things for foreign intelligence investigations (Section 215 o f the USA PA TRIO T Act); and 2) exempt libraries from being considered “wire or electronic communication service providers” under Section 2709 of T ide 18 o f the US Code, relating to “N ational Security letters,” which provides for counterintelligence access to certain records. These administrative letters are used by the FBI to obtain information and evidence, and are issued internally, without prior judicial review. T he bill has been re­ ferred to the Judiciary Com m ittee and has yet to be cosponsored. In June, Representatives Joseph M. Hoeffel (D- PA), Sam Farr (D-CA), and House Judiciary C om ­ mittee Ranking M em ber John Conyers (D-M I) in ­ troduced H .R . 2429, the Surveillance Oversight and Disclosure Act. This bill would require greater reporting by the Justice D epartm ent on USA PA­ T R IO T Act activities, including special reports about how library records are obtained and used. As the m ain a uthor o f the bill, Hoeffel was concerned about how the new authorities granted to the Jus­ tice D epartm ent by the USA PA TRIO T Act were being used. This bill answers congressional repre­ sentatives complaints about the lack o f informa­ tion from Attorney General John Ashcroft. Finally, Senators Grassley (R-LA), Leahy (D- V T ), and Specter (R-PA) introduced S. 436, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Over­ sight Bill, a parallel bill to H .R . 2429 in terms o f oversight and reporting requirements. T his legis­ lation w ould ensure th at ou r elected officials could provide appropriate oversight o f the secret FISA court. S. 43 6 would simply require the public ac­ counting o f basic inform ation w ithout hindering law enforcement. For background on this and other legislative issues, use the search engine on the ALA W eb site at www.ala.org or contact Lynne Bradley or Patrice M c D e rm o tt at (800) 941-8478. A C LU materials are at: h ttp ://w w w .a c lu .o rg /N a tio n a lS e c u rity / NationalSecurity.cfm ?ID=12219& c=l 10. ■ http://www.ala.org http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/ mailto:leb@alawash.org