Following up Vanessa Kam's announcement about the the Freedom to Read
Protection Act, here is some unfortunate news about the bill's defeat in
Congress yesterday.
from today's NY Times:
Effort to Curb Scope of Antiterrorism Law Falls Short
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: July 9, 2004
WASHINGTON, July 8 - An effort to bar the government from demanding
records from libraries and booksellers in some terrorism investigations
fell one vote short of passage in the House on Thursday after a late burst
of lobbying prompted nine Republicans to switch their votes.
The vote, a 210 to 210 deadlock, amounted to a referendum on the
antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act and reflected deep
divisions in Congress over whether the law undercuts civil liberties.
Under House rules, the tie vote meant the measure was defeated.
The outcome led to angry recriminations from House Democrats, who accused
Republicans of "vote-rigging" by holding the vote open for an extra 23
minutes to get enough colleagues to switch votes. Frustrated Democrats
shouted "Shame, shame!" and "Democracy!" as the voting continued, but
Republicans defended their right as the majority party to keep the vote
open to "educate members" about the dangers of scaling back government
counterterrorism powers.
"We're more interested in catching terrorists who are trying to kill
Americans than we are in leaving the Capitol in time for happy hour," said
Stuart Roy, a spokesman for the majority leader, Tom DeLay, Republican of
Texas.
The library proposal, tacked onto a $39.8 billion spending bill, would
have barred the federal government from demanding library records, reading
lists, book customer lists and other material in terrorism and
intelligence investigations. The antiterrorism law expanded the
government's authority to secure warrants from a secret intelligence court
in Washington to obtain records from libraries and other institutions,
using what many legal experts regard as a lesser standard of proof than is
needed in traditional criminal investigations.
Federal law enforcement officials say the power to gain access to such
records has been used sparingly. Still, the provision granting the
government that power has become the most widely attacked element of the
law, galvanizing opposition in more than 330 communities that have
expressed concern about government abuse. Critics say the law gives the
government the ability to pry into people's personal reading habits.
"People are waking up to the fact that the government can walk into their
libraries, without probable cause, without any particular information that
someone was associated with terrorism, and monitor their reading habits,"
Representative Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who sponsored the
measure, said in an interview.
Republicans lobbied furiously to defeat the amendment. President Bush
threatened late Wednesday to veto the spending bill if the provision was
included, and the Justice Department on Thursday sent a letter saying that
at least twice in recent months "a member of a terrorist group closely
affiliated with Al Qaeda used Internet services provided by a public
library."
Even so, the measure appeared headed for passage, leading by at least 18
votes as the set time for voting wound down. The House traditionally holds
its votes open for 15 minutes to give lawmakers time to get from their
offices to cast their votes, but the vote on Mr. Sanders's amendment
stayed open for 38 minutes, officials said.
Democrats identified eight of the nine Republicans who switched their
votes: Michael Bilirakis of Florida, Rob Bishop of Utah, Thomas M. Davis
III of Virginia, Jack Kingston of Georgia, Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado,
Nick Smith of Michigan, Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Zach Wamp of
Tennessee. One Democrat, Brad Sherman of California, also switched his
vote to nay, officials said. In all, 18 Republicans joined Democrats in
supporting the measure; four Democrats opposed it.
[Continues. Full article at
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/09/politics/09patriot.html ]
The text of the bill, the Freedom to Read Protection Act (HR 1157), is
available in Thomas, though the status info has not been updated yet:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR01157:@@@L&summ2=m&
The roll call vote is recorded at
http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2004&rollnumber=339
James Mitchell
American Folk Art Museum
Shirley K. Schlafer Library
45 West 53rd St.
New York, NY 10019
[log in to unmask]
"D. Vanessa Kam" <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004 11:17:27 -0400
>From: "ALAWASH E-MAIL" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: ALA Washington Office Newsline <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: [ALA-WO:14] URGENT Action Alert: Protect Freedom to Read
>
>ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
>Volume 13, Number 42
>July 1, 2004
>
>In This Issue: Urgent Action Alert: Protect Freedom to Read
>
>On Wednesday, July 7, or Thursday, July 8, Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
>will introduce an amendment to the House Commerce, Justice, State (CJS)
>appropriations bill, which funds the Justice Department, barring the
>Department from using any of the appropriated money to search bookstore
>and library records under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. As you recall,
>Rep. Sanders introduced the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157)
>last year. It exempts bookstore and library records from searches under
>Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Although the bill has 145
>co-sponsors in both parties, the chairman of the House Judiciary
>Committee has refused to hold a hearing on it.
>
>We urge you to call your Representative and ask her or him to support
>the Sanders-Paul-Conyers-Nadler Freedom to Read Amendment to the
>Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations (CJS) bill when
>it comes to the floor. To contact your Representative about the
>Sanders-Paul-Conyers-Nadler Freedom to Read Amendment to the Commerce,
>Justice, State, and Judiciary Appropriations (CJS) bill, please go to
>[ http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washingtonoffice.htm
>]http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washingtonoffice.htm and enter your
>zip code to go to the Legislative Action Center.
>
>The text of the amendment reads: "None of the funds available may be
>used to make an application under section 501 of FISA to require the
>production of library circulation records, library patron lists, library
>Internet records, bookseller sales records, or bookseller customer
>lists." Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act amends Section 501 of the
>Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which is why this language
>refers to "section 501 of FISA."
>
>
>******
>ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the
>American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to
>copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or
>redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits.
>
>To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo
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>Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478
>toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: [log in to unmask]; Web site:
>[ http://www.ala.org/washoff. ]http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive
>Director: Emily Sheketoff.
>Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Carol Ashworth,
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