mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , the threat we face as americans today is all too real . 
the recent bombings in london could have happened on american soil , and it is only through the vigilance of our many law enforcement entities that we can combat this occurrence . 
the patriot act , as it was originally adopted , contains many needed tools to fight those who would harm us here in america . 
one of those tools was the expansion of roving wiretap authority . 
this vital tool allowed us to reach out and touch those who had discovered that using a new cell phone every day would have gotten around existing wiretap laws . 
it did not take the terrorists long to realize that , and it would not take them long if that ceased to exist for them to begin using that technique prior to the patriot act . 
we made america safer when we expanded these surveillance authorities , because now law enforcement can continue to monitor a terrorist 's activity without undue interruption . 
but this new authority must be balanced with our fundamental civil liberties . 
it is not that law enforcement has ever misused the roving wiretap provision . 
i repeat : law enforcement has not been , through our oversight , seen to have abused the roving wiretap provision . 
however , this is such a serious , serious potential that we must take all measures necessary to ensure that it will not be in the future . 
for that reason , i seek to amend h.r. 3199 to add a level of judicial oversight not in the current bill . 
the current bill gives the issuing court blanket discretion on when law enforcement must report back on a roving wiretap . 
my amendment requires law enforcement to report back to the court within 15 days of using the roving aspect of the warrant . 
my amendment also requires law enforcement to report on the total number of electronic surveillances that have been conducted . 
these are simple steps that will help guard against possible abuses in the future , while doing nothing to hamper the value of the roving wiretap . 
mr. chairman , i thoroughly appreciate the opportunity to offer this amendment ; but i also want to comment that we have , as a committee , worked like never before on a bipartisan basis to dramatically improve a law when it came to civil liberties that already had good teeth when it came to the security of our people . 
mr. chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
