mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , i am offering this amendment with my good friend , the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. delahunt ) xz4001020 . 
i want to assure my colleagues that this amendment has nothing to do with exporting freedom to cuba . 
we have teamed up on a few of those items . 
we are also teaming up with other members of the patriot act reform caucus , the gentleman from idaho ( mr. otter ) xz4003050 and the gentleman from new york ( mr. nadler ) xz4002890 , on this amendment . 
the flake-delahunt-otter-nadler amendment provides critical reforms to national security letters . 
we have heard a lot about this today . 
first , this amendment specifies that the recipient of a national security letter may consult with an attorney and may also challenge national security letters in court . 
a judge may throw out the national security letter by request of the government `` if compliance would be unreasonable or oppressive to the recipient of the national security letter. '' the amendment also allows the recipient to challenge the nondisclosure requirement in the national security letter request . 
a judge could modify or remove the nondisclosure requirement of the national security letter `` if it finds that there is no reason to believe that disclosure may endanger the national security of the united states , interfere with criminal counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigation , interfere with diplomatic relations , or endanger the life or physical safety of any person. '' another important reform to this amendment is that it modifies the nondisclosure requirements so that recipients may tell individuals whom they work with about the national security letter request in order to comply with the national security request . 
the amendment also contains penalties for individuals who violate the nondisclosure requirements of a national security letter and requires that reports on national security letters by federal agencies to congress must also be sent to the house and senate committees on the judiciary so we can exercise proper oversight . 
mr. chairman , i would like to thank again the gentleman from wisconsin ( mr. sensenbrenner ) xz4003650 and his staff in helping to write and to work with me on this amendment . 
it is important to strengthening the rights of average american citizens who receive these national security letters , and i urge my colleagues to accept this amendment . 
