mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman from georgia for yielding me this time . 
mr. speaker , about 9 or 10 months ago , a constituent of mine approached me back home and he said , howard , we have got to get rid of this patriot act . 
i said , give me one example of how the patriot act has adversely affected you . 
he said , well , i can not do that . 
i said , give me an example of how the patriot act has adversely affected anyone known to you . 
he said , well , i can not do it . 
i said , you are not helping me . 
i am afraid , mr. speaker , that this is how the patriot act has been portrayed : accusations of compromising our freedoms , but virtually no hard facts or evidence to support these accusations . 
and at the conclusion of our conversation , my constituent said to me , well , i guess maybe i have heard wrong information . 
i said , well , if you can not come forward with anything other than just rank hearsay that is unsupported , i am going to have to embrace your conclusion . 
the subcommittee on crime , terrorism and homeland security hosted nine public hearings . 
the full house committee on the judiciary , furthermore , hosted three public hearings . 
now , this is one dozen public hearings , mr. speaker , where the patriot act was the beneficiary or the target of an exhaustive , deliberate examination , in detail . 
are we thoroughly and completely safe today ? 
no . 
are we safer today than we were prior to 9/11 ? 
unquestionably . 
one of those reasons , mr. speaker , in my opinion , is the presence of the patriot act . 
the patriot act has indeed broadened the parameters through which and under which law enforcement and public safety officers are allowed to work . 
compromising freedoms ? 
no evidence of it . 
the hearings indicated no abuse on the part of the federal government , the u.s. government , to protect us . 
i have the fear that one of these days these evil people driven by fanaticism will attack us again , but they have not since 9/11 ; and i think for that we should all be very thankful , and i think for that we should attribute some of that to the presence of the patriot act . 
i urge the passage of this rule , mr. speaker . 
again i thank the gentleman from georgia for having yielded time to me . 
