ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 14, Number 123 Date: December 14, 2005 In This Issue: PATRIOT Act Update and Call for Action As PATRIOT Act reauthorization approaches its 12/31 deadline, the White House is pressuring Congress to pass the inadequate "compromise" reauthorization bill (Conference Report). H.R. 3199 the PATRIOT Act reauthorization conference report just passed I the House (Yea= 251 Nay= 174; 43 Democrats voted yea and 17 Republicans voted nay. You can find the vote roster here: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll627.xml). The battle now moves to the Senate. The Senate plans to consider reauthorization this Friday, 12/16. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has stated his support for a bipartisan filibuster in the Senate. Read: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/12/14/battle_over_patriot_act_renewal_heats_up_on_eve_of_house_vote/ . If you have already called or faxed your Senators about this issue, thank you! If you haven't yet made calls, now is the time to call your Senators. Please call the Washington offices of both your Senators no later than Thursday, 12/15. (Look up their phone numbers via www.senate.gov.) Tell the person who answers the phone that, regarding the PATRIOT Act reauthorization conference report, you want the Senator to: * Vote NO on cloture and SUPPORT a filibuster. * Vote YES for a three-month continuing resolution. * Vote NO on the conference report (if it comes to a vote). Please pay special attention to Senators who have not yet indicated how they will vote. Please call and thank the leaders of the Senate fight against the conference report. (See two lists of senators below.) Your Message: * Resolutions defending civil liberties and criticizing the PATRIOT Act have been passed in the following communities in our state: [find list at http://bordc.org/list.php?sortAlpha=1]. * The conference report fails to ensure a connection between records sought under section 215 and a suspected terrorist, unlike the bipartisan compromise bill that the Senate passed unanimously. * The conference report expands National Security Letter (NSL) powers. Any business that does not comply with an NSL could face criminal penalties. * The conference report creates only illusory rights to challenge orders for records and gag orders. Businesses receiving requests for records would have only limited rights to challenge orders for records in court. If the recipient challenges a gag order, the court must treat the government's assertion of national security, diplomatic relations, or an ongoing criminal investigation as conclusive. Senators who have not yet indicated how they plan to vote: Alaska: Ted Stevens (202) 224-3004 Arkansas: Blanche Lincoln (202) 224-4843 and Mark Pryor (202) 224-2353 Connecticut: Joseph Lieberman (202) 224-4041 Delaware: Thomas Carper (202) 224-2441 Florida: Bill Nelson (202) 224-5274 Idaho: Mike Crapo (202) 224-6142 Indiana: Evan Bayh (202) 224-5623 and Richard Lugar (202) 224-4814 Kansas: Sam Brownback (202) 224-6521 Louisiana: Mary Landrieu (202) 224-5824 Maine: Susan Collins (202) 224-2523 and Olympia Snowe (202) 224-5344 Montana: Conrad Burns (202) 224-2644 and Max Baucus (202) 224-2651 North Dakota: Kent Conrad (202) 224-2043 and Byron Dorgan (202) 224-2551 Nebraska: Ben Nelson (202) 224-6551 and Chuck Hagel (202) 224-4224 New York: Charles Schumer (202) 224-6542 and Hillary Clinton (202) 224-4451 Ohio: Michael DeWine (202) 224-2315 and George Voinovich (202) 224-3353 Oklahoma: Tom Coburn (202) 224-5754 Oregon: Gordon Smith (202) 224-3753 Rhode Island: Lincoln Chafee (202) 224-2921 South Dakota: Tim Johnson (202) 224-5842 Virginia: George Allen (202) 224-4024 West Virginia: Robert Byrd (202) 224-3954 Senators who are leading the fight against conference report: Your Message: Thank You! Alaska: Lisa Murkowski (202) 224-6665 Colorado: Ken Salazar (202) 224-5852 Florida: Mel Martinez (202) 224-3041 Idaho: Larry Craig (202) 224-2752 Illinois: Dick Durbin (202) 224-2152 Massachusetts: Edward Kennedy (202) 224-4543 Michigan: Carl Levin (202) 224-6221 Nevada: Harry Reid (202) 224-3542 New Hampshire: John Sununu (202) 224-2841 Vermont: Patrick Leahy (202) 224-4242 West Virginia: Jay Rockefeller (202) 224-6472 Wisconsin: Russ Feingold (202) 224-5323 ****** 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 . ALAWON archives at . 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