November 10, 2005
Last chance to support PATRIOT reform—Call Congress now and support Senate fixes
On Wednesday, by unanimous voice vote, the House approved a ‘motion to instruct’ House conferees to support the four-year sunsets in the Senate bill to reauthorize the USA PATRIOT Act (S. 1389) rather than the ten-year sunsets in the House bill (H.R. 3199).
Thank you to everyone who made calls to support the motion. After the House vote yesterday, the House officially announced its conferees, who will meet with Senate conferees today at 1:30 p.m. to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate reauthorization bills and decide which portions of each bill will become law. The “conference report” reconciling the bills is expected to be completed next Monday, with House and Senate votes expected soon after that.
This is a critical time to ensure that the extensive powers granted by the original Act are not expanded and that new controls are placed on its misuse. Please contact your senators and representative right away, whether or not they are conferees. Conferees’ phone and fax numbers are listed below. Look up numbers for other Congresspersons.
Time is short: please call your representative and senators now. Ask them to urge the conference members to preserve the reforms in the Senate Bill. Visit our web site, www.bordc.org, for updates.
Sample talking points
Concerned Americans in your district, and throughout the country, are outraged about post-9/11 civil liberties abuses and have been calling for changes to the PATRIOT Act and other anti-terrorism laws and policies for the past four years. To date, seven state legislatures and nearly 400 local governments have passed resolutions expressing concern about these laws and policies, and calling on Congress to uphold civil liberties. (Look up resolutions passed in your state/district.)
(Select the provisions you feel it most important to prevent or to support from those below.)
Please prevent the following Patriot Act expansions:
- Amendments to House bill H.R. 3199 that would create new federal crimes and death penalties
- Senate Intelligence Committee provision to give the FBI the power to issue Administrative Subpoenas without any judicial oversight.
Please support the following controls of Patriot Act powers:
- House “Berman amendment” requiring the federal government to report to Congress on the development and use of its data mining technologies
- Senate provisions to improve controls over the use of Sections 215 (business records) and 206 (roving wiretaps)
- Senate provision to allow challenges to uses of Section 505 (National Security Letters)
Please also push for new controls on "National Security Letters," which the Washington Post reported last week have been widely used to spy on ordinary Americans. Mention that neither the House nor Senate bill goes far enough, and that you will be contacting the Congressperson later regarding more reforms needed to restore our rights and liberties.
Thanks for all you do.
House Conferees
Alabama
Spencer Bachus (R-6th), (202) 225-4921; FAX: (202) 225-2082
Arizona
John Shadegg (R-3rd), (202) 225-3361; FAX: (202) 225-3462
California
Elton Gallegly (R-24th), (202) 225-5811; FAX: (202) 225-1100
Howard Berman (D-28th), (202) 225-4695; FAX: (202) 225-3196
Jane Harman (D-36th), (202) 225-8220); FAX: (202) 226-7290
Zoe Lofgren (D-16th), (202) 225-3072; FAX: (202) 225-3336
Georgia
Charles Norwood (R-9th), (202) 225-4101; FAX: (202) 226-0776
Massachusetts
Barney Frank (D-4th), (202) 225-5931; FAX: (202) 225-0182
Michigan
Peter Hoekstra (R-2nd), (202) 225-4401; FAX (202) 226-0779
John Conyers (D-14th), (202) 225-5126; FAX: (202) 225-0072
John Dingell (D-15th), (202) 225-4071; FAX: (202) 226-0371
New Mexico
Heather Wilson (R-1st), 202-225-6316; FAX (202) 225-4975
New York
Jerrold Nadler (D-8th), (202) 225-5635; FAX: (202) 225-6923
Peter King (R-3rd), (202) 225-7896; FAX: (202) 226-2279
North Carolina
Howard Coble (R-6th), (202) 225-3065; FAX: (202 225-8611
Ohio
Steve Chabot (R-1st), (202) 225-2216; FAX: (202) 225-3012
Michael Oxley (R-4th), (202) 225-2676; FAX: (202) 226-0577
Pennsylvania
Curt Weldon (R-7th), (202) 225-2011; FAX: (202) 225-8137
Tennessee
William Jenkins (R-1st), 202-225-6356; FAX: (202)-225-5714
Texas
Lamar Smith (R-21st), (202) 225-4236; FAX: (202) 225-8628
Virginia
Bob Goodlatte (R-6th), (202) 225-5431; FAX: (202) 225- 9681
Richard Boucher (D-9th), (202) 225-3861; FAX (202) 225-0442
Bobby Scott (D-3rd), (202) 225-8351; FAX (202) 225-8354
Wisconsin
James Sensenbrenner (R-5th), (202) 225-5101; FAX (202) 225-3190
Senate Conferees
Alabama
Jeff Sessions (R), (202) 224-4124; FAX (202) 224-4124
Arizona
Jon Kyl (R), (202) 224-4521; FAX (202) 224-4521
Kansas
Pat Roberts (R), (202) 224-4774; FAX (202) 224-3541
Massachusetts
Edward Kennedy (D), (202) 224-4543; FAX (202) 224-2417
Michigan
Carl Levin (D), (202) 224-6221; FAX (202) 224-1388
Ohio
Michael DeWine (R), (202) 224-2315; FAX (202) 224-6591
Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter (R), (202) 224-4254; FAX (202) 228-1229
Utah
Orrin Hatch (R), (202) 224-5251; FAX (202) 224-6331
Vermont
Patrick Leahy (D), (202) 224-4242; FAX (202) 224-3479
West Virginia
Jay Rockefeller (D), (202) 224-6472; FAX (202) 224-7665