ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 14, Number 57 Date June 10, 2005 In This Issue: Immediate Action Needed: Call your Representatives Today to Support the Freedom to Read Amendment On June 14, 2005 Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will introduce an amendment to the House Science-State-Justice Subcommittee (SSJC) (colloquially known as CJS) appropriations bill, which funds the Justice Department, barring the Department from using any of the appropriated money to search library and bookstore records under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act. As you may recall, Rep. Sanders introduced the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) last year (for background please see ALAWON, July 2003 No. 66 . It exempts bookstore and library records from searches under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. To prevent a replay of last year, we urge you to call your Representative and ask her or him to support the Sanders Freedom to Read Amendment to the Appropriations Science-State-Justice Subcommittee (SSJC) bill when it comes to the floor on Tuesday or Wednesday. For contact information, please go to the Legislative Action Center and enter your zipcode. The language of the amendment will be similar to last year's which read: "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." Your Message: * Like the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157) sponsored by Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Sanders Freedom to Read 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. Please call your Representatives today (and no later than Tuesday morning, June 14th). The vote is expected to take place Tuesday or Wednesday. Phone calls are preferred as emails and faxes may not be effective at this stage. Additionally, if your Representative is listed below please make a special effort to call them by Tuesday morning (These Representatives listed below voted for the Amendment last year. It is critical to hold their vote again this year): Roscoe Bartlett Mike Castle John Duncan Vernon Ehlers Jeff Flake Tim Johnson Mark Kirk Jim Leach Jerry Moran Bob Ney Butch Otter Ron Paul Thomas Petri Jon Porter Rick Renzi Mike Simpson Curt Weldon Don Young ****** 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 [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to . To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at . 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; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Don Essex, Joshua Farrelman, Erin Haggerty, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Carrie Lowe, Kathy Mitchell, Carrie Russell. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.