mr. chairman , i rise today in very strong support of the renewal of the usa patriot act . 
these changes that were enacted in response to the horrific terrorist attacks on our nation of september 11 , 2001 provided critical tools to our law enforcement in bringing the terrorists to justice and to stopping future attacks , and the result of this law can not be disputed . 
worldwide we have captured or killed nearly two-thirds of the al qaeda 's top leadership . 
we have broken up terrorist cells in buffalo , in seattle , in portland , northern virginia and in detroit , my home state of michigan . 
these tools have been critical in gathering knowledge on the activities and the targets of the terrorists . 
these tools have assisted in dismantling the terrorist financial network . 
and as i meet with constituents in my district they are continually saying what are we doing to help fight the terrorists ? 
however , i have never heard from one man or woman in my district who has said that their constitutional rights have been violated by any aspect of the patriot act . 
and while i care deeply about protecting the civil rights of law abiding americans , i do not care one iota about the civil rights of terrorists bent on destroying our way of life . 
just yesterday over 300 members of this house voted for an amendment that supported the capture and the detention and the interrogation of international terrorists . 
mr. chairman , today we face a new type of enemy , an enemy who preys on the innocent , an enemy who lives in the shadows , an enemy whose tactics are the tactics of cowards . 
and as we saw in london on july 11 and as we are seeing again today , the terrorists are still out there targeting the murder of the innocent . 
and in fact i will predict that other countries will follow the lead of america and what we are doing on the floor of this house today as they enact similar protections for their citizens against these murderers . 
and now is not the time to take away tools that law enforcement needs to protect us . 
now is the time to send a message to the terrorists that the we are not backing down from the fight . 
i urge my colleagues to support this legislation . 
