mr. speaker , i was unavoidably absent from the vote today on h.r. 3199 , the `` usa patriot improvement and reauthorization act of 2005 '' due to a family medical emergency . 
had i been present and voting , i would have voted `` no '' on this bill as i have steadfastly opposed similar versions of the patriot act when they have come up in the past . 
make no mistake , like all americans i believe we should give law enforcement the tools it needs to investigate and fight terrorism . 
however , we can do this without sacrificing our american values . 
one of our most precious values is the right to be free from unwarranted government intrusion . 
i voted against the original patriot act when it passed congress in 2001 because it went too far in creating the potential for government abuses and violations of civil liberties . 
the bill today makes permanent almost all of the provisions enacted in 2001 . 
while some have been altered to make them slightly less egregious , not enough has changed to allow me to lend my support to this reauthorization . 
for example , section 109 of h.r. 3199 makes some changes to section 215 of the original patriot act , which expanded what the government could seize under the foreign intelligence surveillance act , fisa , of 1978 to `` any tangible things. '' these include library , medical , tax , and gun records . 
the bill today maintains the weak threshold adopted in the original patriot act by again failing to require the materials requested be tied or connected to a specific terrorist or terrorist organization . 
the broad standard in current law makes it dangerously easy for the records of innocent americans to be viewed by government . 
additionally , recipients of requests for information under section 215 are prevented from telling virtually anyone about the request and they can not challenge this `` gag order '' in court . 
while this bill at least includes a 4-year sunset for section 215 , there is no sunset for section 505 , which expanded the power of government to obtain information via national security letters , nsls . 
nsls allow the government , with no prior court approval , access to financial records , credit reports , telephone records , and information from internet service providers . 
as with section 215 , this bill fails to require the materials requested be tied or connected to a specific terrorist or terrorist organization . 
tragically , this weak standard is made permanent . 
there is no sunset . 
also , as is true under section 215 , there is a `` gag order '' under section 505 . 
while h.r. 3199 adds a new ability to challenge this `` gag order , '' it is a sham . 
violating this gag order even carries criminal penalties . 
the bill also fails to adequately reform section 213 of the original patriot act , which expanded `` sneak and peek '' warrant authority . 
this allows the government to search american homes or businesses with delayed , not prior , notice . 
while the bill today does change the delay in notice allowed from a `` reasonable time '' to no more than 30 days , the bill allows for unlimited extensions . 
limitations on instances in which delayed notice searches are allowed to remain broad . 
to protect our rights and privacy , the ability for the government to get into our personal lives and records without prior notice needs to be more narrowly crafted . 
these are just some examples of the problems with h.r. 3199 . 
i am confident that if we work together , we can develop laws which would allow us to combat terrorism without making it too easy for government to intrude into the private lives of americans . 
