mr. speaker , i rise in support of this rule but in opposition to the underlying bill , the so-called patriot act , the usa patriot act . 
i supported the patriot act when it was first passed and would do so again . 
i support the war on radical islam . 
our country is under attack and under grave threat . 
but my original support was based on the inclusion of 4-year sunsets in those sections of the patriot act , those sections that drastically expanded the police and investigative powers of the federal government . 
that is what was included in the original patriot act . 
instead , the current legislation before us makes permanent the expansion of police powers which were meant to be only temporary until this war was over . 
of the 16 sunset provisions , sections sunsetted in the original 2001 bill , the current conference committee report establishes 4-year sunsets on only two of those 16 . 
the rest of the expanded police powers are being made permanent , the most drastic permanent expansion of these powers being section 213 , the sneak and peek section ; the section 205 , the secret search section ; and section 214 , which permanently eliminates probable cause needed for the use of eavesdropping devices . 
i would support redoing the patriot act as originally came forward . 
as the war on terrorism continues , i can support these expanded powers . 
however , this effort to use the war as a way to alter forever the balance of personal liberty and legitimate restraints on government power should be defeated . 
long after the war on terrorism is won , under permanent sneak-and-peek rules , american citizens will have their homes and businesses searched without court order and without legal notification for a month after that search is conducted . 
long after the threat of islamic extremism is over , under permanent secret search rules , americans will have their business records , phone records , credit records and computer files seized without a judge issuing a warrant based on probable cause . 
long after the crisis we face today , under permanent eavesdropping rules , american citizens will have their phone conversations monitored without a warrant . 
there is no excuse in peacetime to give our police and our investigative agencies wartime powers , and that is what we are doing here . 
there have been a few improvements in the bill but not enough improvements , as far as i am concerned , for us to support it . 
my central theme has always been based on the need for periodic review by congress of all those dramatic expansions of police power that we are giving our government now in order to win this war on terrorism . 
this is best achieved by sunsets . 
we should not live in peacetime under the extraordinary laws passed during times of war and crisis . 
emergency powers of investigation should not become the standard . 
let me just note that i think people will rue the day if we give the federal government this permanent power over our lives . 
