mr. chairman , i yield myself 3 minutes . 
mr. chairman , the london attacks this morning , be they copycat terrorism or yet another al qaeda attempt , are one more reminder of how vulnerable we are . 
we need effective tools to combat terrorism . 
the terrorist threat is real , and if we are going to demand that the fbi uncover terror cells in the u.s. , we need to give them the tools to do that . 
the al qaeda organization that attacked us on 9/11 has changed . 
it is no longer a top-down centralized terror group planning acts from overseas . 
instead , we face a loose network of home-grown terror cells , or what i call franchise terrorism . 
their attacks draw inspiration from al qaeda , but they act independently , making it tougher to disrupt their plans . 
i want to make two points about the patriot act . 
first , it gave law enforcement some important new legal authorities . 
but new legal authorities , mr. chairman , on their own , will not protect us from terrorism . 
we need to shift priorities , to develop better strategies and devote greater resources to protect our soft targets , like rail , subways , and ports , and that we have not yet done . 
second , on the issue of reauthorizing the 16 provisions that are sunsetting , my view is `` mend it , do n't end it. '' the patriot act was passed 45 days after 9/11 , with little debate . 
we were bracing for more terror . 
the invasion of afghanistan had begun and capitol hill was hit with anthrax attacks . 
congress did a fairly decent job , and i supported the bill , but we can do better . 
we should reauthorize the patriot act , which modernized law enforcement tools , but we should clarify and tailor the authorities so that the government does not have a license to engage in fishing expeditions for your personal information or conduct fbi surveillance on innocent americans . 
the bill on the floor today is better than the original patriot act . 
and if some of the amendments we will consider pass , it will be even better . 
but my colleagues on the permanent select committee on intelligence will describe in a moment amendments which we offered in committee and before the committee on rules . 
those amendments are solid , moderate , and bipartisan , and they should be able to be debated today . 
the good news is that the senate judiciary committee , on a bipartisan basis , has just reported a bill that includes many of them . 
that bill , i hope , will serve as the model in conference committee . 
that bill could have been the house bill . 
in conclusion , protecting america from terrorism is not a democrat or republican issue , it is an american issue . 
as i have often said , the terrorists are not going to check our party registration before they blow us up . 
so when we defend america , let us forget party labels and focus on what will provide security and liberty for the american people . 
balancing liberty and security is not a zero sum game . 
you either get more of both or less . 
the american people deserve more of both . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
