[Libs-Or] Fwd: [ALA-WO:229] PATRIOT Renewal Update

[Diedre Conkling]

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Subject: [ALA-WO:229] PATRIOT Renewal Update 
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2006 12:28:37 -0500
From: "ALAWASH E-MAIL" <ALAWASH at alawash.org>
To: ALA Washington Office Newsline <ala-wo at ala.org>

ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 15, Number 18 
Date: February 17, 2006
 
In This Issue: PATRIOT Renewal Update
 
On Thursday, February 16th, the Senate voted for cloture (96 Yeas to 3
Neas with 1 not voting) on the PATRIOT Act renewal.  The vote for
cloture ended the debate on the Senate floor over disputed provisions of
the PATRIOT Act in favor of the compromise legislation that adds limited
civil liberties protections to the law.  Sens. Feingold (D-WI), Byrd
(D-WV), and Jeffords (I-VT) voted against cloture, and  Sen Vitter
(R-LA) did not vote.   The compromise provisions include:
 
1) Recipients of court-approved subpoenas for information in terrorist
investigations may challenge the gag requirement - but only after one
year and only if the government does not certify disclosure "may
endanger the national security of the U.S., interfere with a criminal,
counterterrorism, or counterintelligence investigation, interfere with
diplomatic relations, or endanger the life of physical safety of any
person." 
 
2) Recipients of National Security Letters are no longer required to
divulge to the FBI the name of an attorney consulted.
 
3) Language asserting that libraries, when functioning in their
traditional roles - including providing Internet access --  are not
subject to NSLs. However, the language states that libraries are subject
if the library "is providing the services defined under" Section
2510(15) of title 18, which says " "electronic communication service"
means any service which provides to users thereof the ability to send or
receive wire or electronic communications." 
 
Sen. Feingold said of the compromise, " The modifications to the
conference report agreed to by the White House do contain one other
purported change to one of the NSL statutes.  This modification states
that the FBI cannot issue an NSL for transactional and subscriber
information about telephone and Internet usage to a library unless the
library is offering "electronic communication services" as defined in
the statute.  But that just restates the existing requirements of the
NSL statute, which currently applies only to entities - libraries or
otherwise - that provide "electronic communication services."  So that
provision has no real legal effect whatsoever.  Perhaps that explains
why the American Library Association issued a statement calling this
provision a "fig leaf" and expressing disappointment that so many
Senators have agreed to this deal."
 
After the cloture vote, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) entered a colloquy
with Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) designed to clarify the impact on the NSL
requirement on libraries.   During the discussion Sen. Sununu said of
the requirement, " What we did in this legislation is add clarifying
language that states that libraries operating in their traditional
functions: lending books, providing access to digital books or
periodicals in digital format, and providing basic access to the
Internet would not be subject to a national security letter. There is no
National Security Letter statute existing in current law that permits
the FBI explicitly to obtain library records. But, as was indicated by
the Senator from Illinois, librarians have been concerned that existing
National Security Letter authority is vague enough so that it could be
used to allow the Government to treat libraries as they do communication
service providers such as a telephone company or a traditional Internet
service provider from whom consumers would go out and get their access
to the Internet and send and receive e-mail.  Section 5 clarifies, as I
indicated, that a library providing basic Internet access would not be
subject to a national security letter, simply by virtue of making that
access available to the public."  
 
Sen. Durbin, pressing for further clarification said, " So a library
that has Internet access, where a person can find an Internet e-mail
service, is not a communications service provider; therefore, it would
not fall under the purview of the NSL provision in 18 U.S.C. 2709. It is
a critically important distinction...Libraries are fundamental to
America..."  Sen. Durbin also thanked librarians for their, "heroic
efforts to amend the PATRIOT Act in a responsible way..." (Congressional
Record; February 16, 2006 (Senate) page S1379-S1403 .  View the full
colloquy here:  http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/ ) 
 
Next Steps:  The Senate is expected to vote on the renewal during the
last week of February.  Stay tuned to ALAWON for more updates on this
issue. ALA thanks all library supporters who continuously urged Congress
to require adequate protections for civil liberties during this process.
Thank you for your unfaltering support of libraries! 
 
******
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