ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 10, Number 73 October 10, 2001 In this issue: [1] URGENT: ANTI-TERRORISM BILL GOING TO SENATE FLOOR TOMORROW, OCTOBER 11TH; ASK SENATORS TO SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO IMPROVE "BUSINESS RECORDS" SECTION OF S. 1510 [2] HOUSE ANTI-TERRORISM BILL PASSES JUDICIARY COMMITTEE; PRIVACY ADVOCATES PRESS FOR HOUSE DELIBERATIONS ON H.R. 2975 [1] URGENT: ANTI-TERRORISM BILL GOING TO SENATE FLOOR TOMORROW, OCTOBER 11TH; ASK SENATORS TO SUPPORT AMENDMENTS TO IMPROVE "BUSINESS RECORDS" SECTION OF S. 1510 Anti-terrorism bill goes to Senate floor tomorrow, Thursday, October 11th. ALA and others in the library community have been working to get troublesome provisions on library records and patron privacy as well as computer trespassing changed in the anti-terrorism bills moving quickly through the Senate and the House of Representatives. One provision in S. 1510, the Uniting and Strengthening America Act, (USA Act) raises major problems regarding confidentiality of library records under a section on "business records." (Sec. 501 - Access to Certain Business Records for Foreign Intelligence and International Terrorism Investigations.) There are at least two concerns in this provision for the educational and library communities: First is the possibility that the Buckley Amendment, which covers protection for education student records could be circumvented by a "business records" order issued under lower standards than would ordinarily be required by the many state laws. Second is that library records - including circulation data - could be obtained by the FBI without going through the steps or meeting legal standards otherwise required under the various state laws. Similar concerns may exist with regard to health records. At this writing, negotiations are underway within the Senate about how amendments may be considered on the floor. It is our understanding that Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) may introduce several amendments that address library concerns. While we do not know specifically what Feingold may propose, library advocates are asked to call their Senators immediately and ask them to support amendments, likely from Feingold, that would improve the business records provision, Section 501. ALA and our sister library associations, the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL, have been working with legal advisors and other coalitions, including the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), to analyze this evolving bill. The library community had already proposed changes to a similar provision in the House bill, Section 156 of H.R. 2975, the PATRIOT Act. The ALA Office of Government Relations would appreciate hearing from library supporters who get feedback from their calls to senators' offices about the bill. Contact Lynne Bradley at 1-800- 941-8478. [2] HOUSE ANTI-TERRORISM BILL PASSES JUDICIARY COMMITTEE; PRIVACY ADVOCATES PRESS FOR HOUSE DELIBERATIONS ON H.R. 2975 Library supporters are asked to press for a vote on H.R. 2975 in the House. The following is an alert from EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, with which ALA works on many privacy issues. EPIC, CDT, AALL, ARL and ALA are all members of the "In Defense of Freedom" Coalition working on the anti-terrorism bills. (http://www.indefenseoffreedom.org/) From EPIC: UPHOLD LEGISLATIVE PROCESS FOR ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION - Urge House Action on H.R. 2975 STATUS - The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill on a bipartisan basis that seeks to address several critical civil liberty concerns, and most importantly includes a sunset provision for expanded law enforcement authority; - While the House bill still raises many civil liberty concerns, it reflects a deliberative process and the input of many members of both parties who sought to address law enforcement interests and to safeguard civil liberties; - The Administration is seeking to avoid action on the House proposal arguing instead that the normal legislative process be suspended so that a bill can be passed quickly without consideration of all the issues raised in the course of the House debate; - Action by the Administration and the leadership over the next few days could prevent consideration of the House measure. EPIC urges supporters to contact House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and ask him to call for a vote on H.R. 2975, the PATRIOT Act. Telephone: 202-225-0600/Fax: 202-226-1996 Talking points: a) The democratic process requires consideration of important matters in both the House and Senate; b) The House bill contains several critical civil liberties safeguards that are not in the Senate measure; c) The House bill reflects careful deliberation of complex issues and bipartisan consensus; d) The sunset provision must be preserved. ****** 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 http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. 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, Miriam Nisbet and Claudette Tennant. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.