mr. speaker , i thank the gentlewoman from new york for yielding me this time . 
mr. speaker , i rise in strong opposition to this rule and to the underlying legislation . 
i rise in opposition not just because an important amendment that i offered , along with the gentleman from michigan ( mr. conyers ) xz4000800 , the gentleman from texas ( mr. paul ) xz4003110 , the gentleman from new york ( mr. nadler ) xz4002890 , the gentleman from new mexico ( mr. udall ) xz4004122 , and the gentlewoman from california ( ms. eshoo ) xz4001240 was not accepted by the committee on rules , but because this very same amendment has already been passed on the floor of this house by a 51-vote margin just a few weeks ago . 
on june 15 , by a vote of 238-187 , this body voted overwhelmingly for the exact same amendment which would stop the fbi and other government agencies from going into our libraries and book stores without probable cause . 
we voted on that by a 238-187 vote ; and now , a few weeks later , this provision is not included in the bill , and the republican leadership has refused to allow the members to even vote on it . 
this , my friends , is an outrageous abuse of power and denies the majority of members here the right to put into the bill what they want . 
there is no excuse for that . 
if you wanted to speak against it , let it come up , argue against it . 
but it has passed once ; it will likely pass again . 
but the republican leadership has not allowed that issue to be debated . 
this whole discussion about the usa patriot act deals with two issues . 
number one , every member of this body is pledged to do everything that he or she can to protect the american people from the horrendous scourge of terrorism , but some of us have more confidence in our law enforcement agencies and the american people than others do . 
we believe that we can fight terrorism and protect the american people without undermining the basic constitutional rights which make us a free country . 
let all of us remember that in the 1940s innocent japanese americans , without any pretext , were herded into internment camps . 
in the 1960s , a president of the united states had a file on him , president kennedy , by the fbi . 
in the 1960s , martin luther king , jr. , who some of us consider to be one of the great heroes of the 20th century , was hounded and investigated by the fbi . 
the issue today is how do we effectively fight terrorism , but do it in a way which protects the constitutional rights which make us a free country . 
i urge a `` no '' vote on the rule . 
