madam speaker , today i rise in support of this conference report . 
and as a conferee , i want to specially thank chairman sensenbrenner for his leadership in negotiating the final details of this very important legislation . 
our nation continues to be threatened by radical terrorists , and it is critical that we take every step possible to prevent future attacks . 
over the past 4 years , the patriot act has proven to be an effective tool in helping to accomplish this goal . 
but significant threats continue to exist , endangering the lives of u.s. citizens . 
with this in mind , it is imperative that detecting and disrupting terrorist activity before it occurs remain a top priority . 
it is also critical , however , that we maintain our commitment to protecting american civil liberties . 
when the house first considered the original patriot act , i was one of several on the judiciary committee who sought to include sunset provisions that would require congress to reauthorize the legislation after conducting vigorous oversight . 
well , the house judiciary committee has extensively reviewed the patriot act and its implementation . 
and over a 4-month period , it received testimony from 35 witnesses during 12 hearings on the patriot act . 
furthermore , the committee conducted a nearly 12-hour markup of this legislation , including consideration of 43 amendments . 
as chairman of the subcommittee on the constitution , we have held patriot act oversight hearings in my subcommittee , and we remain committed to monitoring the implementation of this legislation through aggressive oversight . 
i am pleased that another 4-year sunset of the more controversial provisions and several additional safeguards to further protect civil liberties were included in the conference report , and i thank chairman sensenbrenner for that . 
the sunset provisions proved to be successful the first time around , and their renewal , coupled with new protections , helped strengthen our defenses against terrorism while demonstrating a strong commitment to civil liberties . 
the goal of our enemies is to destroy america and its allies . 
we must remain steadfast in our resolve to eradicate the plague of terrorism . 
this act does that . 
