mr. chairman , i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 3199 . 
this bill does very little other than to make permanent , onerous sections of an onerous law . 
four years ago , congress passed and the president signed into law the usa patriot act . 
substituted in the dark of night , the administration 's bill was inserted as the final bill and became law with very little congressional deliberation or consideration . 
i was appalled by the process we used then and am only slightly more comforted now . 
we are considering making 14 of the 16 provisions in the patriot act permanent , and making the other 2 provisions semi-permanent . 
are we going to yield more of our institutional power by granting the permanency of these provisions ? 
we must remain vigilant against terrorism , but we must also remain vigilant against abuses of power that curtail americans ' civil liberties in a time of war . 
mr. chairman , i have heard a lot during the last four years that we will not yield to the terrorists . 
that we will fight tyranny with freedom and democracy , and the power of our ideas will prevail . 
i agree . 
yet , today , we are considering limiting american freedoms by extending these sections of the patriot act permanently . 
as a former prosecutor , i understand the need for tools to prosecute those who would do us harm . 
however , the law that was passed four years ago and the bill we consider today go too far . 
we must provide commonsense tools to prosecutors , but we must weigh the important needs to safeguard liberty . 
we must not make these temporary provisions permanent while we remain at war . 
what will generations to come think when they have seen we have permanently lowered the bar in protecting their civil liberties ? 
mr. chairman , i am reminded of a very wise saying by one of our founding fathers , benjamin franklin . 
he said `` they that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. '' i will vote against this bill and urge my colleagues to do the same . 
