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not sure if american senator's responses are useful to this group but if anyone
is interested i can continue to forward as they come.
----- Original Message -----
From: sena...@feinstein.senate.gov
To: lacena...@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 7:34:06 AM
Subject: U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein responding to your message
Dear Ms. Faulkner :
Thank you for contacting me to express concern about the USA PATRIOT Act. I
recognize that this is an important issue to you, and I welcome the opportunity
to share my point of view.
As you may be aware, on May 26, 2011, Congress passed, with strong bi-partisan
support, legislation to extend three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act
– known as "roving wiretaps," "lone wolf," and "business records" provisions –
until June 1, 2015 (Pub. L. 112-14). It is important to note that all three of
these authorities can only be used after being approved by a federal judge .
These provisions do the following:
* Roving wiretaps – before this authority was established, warrants could
only be issued for a specific phone number. In the modern age of
telecommunications, terrorists were able to evade surveillance simply by
switching phones, which is easily done with throwaway cell phones. Thus, the
"roving wiretap" authority simply authorizes a judge to issue a surveillance
order that is specific to the suspect terrorist, rather than specific to a
particular phone number.
* Lone wolf – the lone wolf provision allows for court-ordered surveillance
of foreigners who engage in international terrorism but for whom an association
with a specific international terrorist group has not yet been determined.
* Business records – finally, Section 215, or the business records section,
allows the government to obtain business records relating to a suspected
terrorist if it receives a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Court. This provision also provides the legal authority for the National
Security Agency to receive information about phone calls (the phone numbers and
the time and length of the call), pursuant to a court order.
In the interest of making sure these provisions can't be abused, on November
18, 2014, I joined 57 of my Senate colleagues in voting to bring the USA
FREEDOM Act to the Senate Floor for amendment and debate. This bill would have
reauthorized these provisions in modified form. Unfortunately, it did not
receive enough votes to overcome a filibuster, but I am committed to working
with my colleagues in the new Congress to pass similar legislation to extend
and reform these provisions, especially Section 215, before they expire in June
of this year.
I understand your concerns that these authorities may be misused. As Vice
Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I have seen how United States
intelligence and law enforcement agencies have used these authorities, and I
have come to believe that these programs are legal, properly controlled, and
have not been widely abused. I take seriously my responsibility as Vice
Chairman of the Intelligence Committee and will continue to vigorously pursue
oversight over these programs by working to verify that these programs are
conducted legally and with the proper safeguards.
Again, thank you for taking the time to write. Your feedback on this subject is
important to me, and I will keep it in mind as the Senate continues further
extensions of the programs authorized by the USA PATRIOT Act. If you have any
additional comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact my
Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.
Sincerely yours,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and
the nation are available at my website, feinstein.senate.gov . And please visit
my YouTube , Facebook and Twitter for more ways to communicate with me.
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