Dreier Votes to Reauthorize PATRIOT Act

July 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman David Dreier (R-San Dimas), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, voted last night to reauthorize the USA PATRIOT Act, critical antiterrorism legislation that was set to expire at the end of this year. The legislation permanently extends fourteen of the sixteen provisions in the Act. The USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005, H.R. 3199, was approved with broad bipartisan support, 257-171.

“Protecting our homeland and protecting civil liberties are not mutually exclusive,” Dreier said. “Just as our troops deserve the very best equipment to carry out their mission, our law enforcement officers at home deserve all the tools they need to keep us safe. The reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act ensures that our law enforcement will be able to continue to fight terror on a global level in the most effective way possible.”

The PATRIOT Act gives law enforcement the same tools available for fighting drug traffickers, child pornographers, and organized crime in their fight against global and domestic terrorism. These tools have helped U.S. officials charge more than 400 suspected terrorists since 2001. More than half of those charged have been convicted. In addition, the law aided the investigation of the murder of Wall Street Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl and the breakup of terrorist cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia, and Florida.

The House Judiciary Committee held a lengthy series of oversight hearings in recent years to determine the effectiveness of the PATRIOT Act and investigate concerns about its abuse. In the course of that oversight, the usefulness of the Act was made clear by the successful prosecution of terrorists and the lack of any record of abuse. Dreier noted that when the Act was first approved just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he argued forcefully for the inclusion of sunsets in the bill. Nearly four years later, with no record of abuse, the reauthorization includes ten year sunsets for two provisions, those allowing “roving” wiretaps and access to certain business records. “We cannot combat twenty-first century terrorism with twentieth century methods,” Dreier said. “Cell phones and the internet are the tools of terrorists. We need to have the tools to combat them in their efforts to plot and attack.”

Dreier commended Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) for his hard work on the oversight of the PATRIOT Act and its bipartisan passage in the House. “Last night's bipartisan vote makes clear, the House supports the work of the Judiciary committee on this critical piece of legislation.”