[Libs-Or] ALA, ARL express support for Paul amendment to the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act

[Diedre Conkling]

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2011/05/ala-arl-express-support-for-paul-amendment-to-the-patriot-sunsets-extension-act/


ALA, ARL express support for Paul amendment to the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act

Posted on May 23, 2011

by Jenni Terry


The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of Research
Libraries (ARL) today endorsed Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to S.
1038, the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011. On Friday, the
associations called on the Senate to amend S. 1038 to establish 2013,
rather than 2015, as the next sunset year for three expiring sections
of the PATRIOT Act.

The associations released the following joint statement of support for
the Paul amendment:

Today we are endorsing Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to return Section
215 of the Act to its pre-2001 form, limiting surveillance under that
provision to suspected terrorists and spies and restoring privacy to
the records of innocent library users. We are also endorsing Senator
Patrick Leahy and Senator Paul’s amendment to add reforms from Senator
Leahy’s bill, S. 193, the USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of
2011.

Of the three expiring sections, Section 215 (also known as the
“library records provision”) has always been of serious concern to the
library community. This provision upsets well-established expectations
of reader privacy by opening library records to government scrutiny
with a showing of mere “relevance” to an investigation.

Our associations have long sought reforms to restore the balance
between the government’s need to conduct surveillance and the
constitutional rights of personal privacy. We are dismayed that
today’s planned Senate vote for a straight four-year extension signals
Congress will once again miss an opportunity to institute reform.

During this Congress our organizations have endorsed S. 193, the USA
PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011, based on its improved reader
privacy protections. We applaud Senator Leahy for introducing the bill
as well as the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who endorsed
these reforms. The library community is disappointed that meaningful
floor debate and a vote on these important issues is likely to be
deferred yet again.

While we would prefer to see passage of Senator’s Paul’s amendment or
full debate on the reforms in S. 193, if there must be another
extension of the PATRIOT Act without reform, it should run to 2013,
rather than the proposed 2015 sunset.

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2011/05/ala-arl-express-support-for-paul-amendment-to-the-patriot-sunsets-extension-act/




-- 
Diedre Conkling
Lincoln County Library District
P.O. Box 2027
Newport, OR 97365
Phone & Fax: 541-265-3066
Work email: diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org
Home email: diedre08 at gmail.com