mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from arizona for yielding me time . 
i thank the gentleman from arizona ( mr. flake ) xz4001340 and the gentleman from california ( mr. schiff ) xz4003610 for their tireless advocacy of the liberties of the american people , and i rise in strong support of the bipartisan flake-schiff amendment . 
president harry truman , i am told , had a plaque on his desk that simply read `` the buck stops here. '' it seems to me that the flake-schiff amendment is all about saying that when it comes to that sacred relationship that the american people feel between their local library and their local bookstore , that the fbi director himself or herself must be directly involved if that relationship is to be intruded upon in the name of an investigation into the war on terror . 
the flake-schiff amendment requires the director of the fbi to personally approve any library or bookstore request for records under section 215 of the patriot act . 
currently the law permits a designee of the director whose rank can not be lower than an assistant special agent in charge to approve section 215 orders , and that will change . 
also under this amendment , the director of the fbi can not delegate the duty to personally approve a section 215 request for library and bookstore records . 
this amendment , as the gentleman from arizona ( mr. flake ) xz4001340 said earlier , will prevent section 215 from being abused or used in a fishing expedition intruding upon the privacy of ordinary americans in the name of the war on terror . 
again i quote president harry truman 's famous plaque or missive , `` the buck stops here. '' the flake-schiff amendment is simply about saying if the war on terror demands it , when it comes to intruding upon that sacred relationship between the american people and a bookstore or a library , we have to have those who are of the highest accountability in our political system to answer to that . 
i strongly support the flake-schiff amendment and the commonsense underpinning that brings it to the floor today , and urge its passage . 
