ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 12, Number 66
July 21, 2003

In This Issue: Urgent Action Alert: Ask Representatives to Vote for the Sanders-Otter-Conyers Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Bill of 2004

URGENT ACTION ALERT:  Library supporters are asked to immediately call your Representatives to vote for the Sanders-Otter-Conyers Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations Bill of 2004. A House vote could come at anytime beginning this evening, July 21st.  
Ask your Congressional Representatives to support the amendment which is a version of H.R. 1157, the Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2003.  Like H.R. 1157, the Sanders-Otter-Conyers Amendment would be enacted as soon as possible.  Capitol Hill Switchboard Number is (202) 224-3121.    If possible, please follow-up your phone call with a fax to your Representative's office. 
Talking Points for your call or fax: 
* Like the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) sponsored by Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Sanders-Otter-Conyers Amendment would restore legal standards and warrant procedures for investigations of libraries and bookstores which were in place before passage of the USA PATRIOT Act. H.R. 1157 has the bipartisan support of 129 co-sponsors.
* Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act severely expands the scope of materials the FBI can access with a warrant from the government's secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance ACT or "FISA" court. This section gives the FBI the power to search for any "tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items)" in any location without having to show "probable cause."
* Many people across the country, including librarians and booksellers, are concerned about the "chilling effect" of this legislation, which encourages users to self-censor their reading choices. Three state legislatures, 44 state library associations, and 137 cities and towns representing nearly 17 million people have passed resolutions expressing their concerns with Section 215 and other specific provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.
* Passage of this amendment would continue to allow the FBI to use all constitutionally sanctioned means to obtain warrants and criminal subpoenas to access library and bookstore records pertinent to investigations related to terrorism or criminal acts.

To find fax numbers and contact information for your House member, go to www.house.gov. 
For more information on this amendment, contact Lynne Bradley at the ALA Washington Office at (800) 941-8478 or lbradley@alawash.org. Thank you in advance for your assistance in this important matter.



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ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff.  Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.