madam speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
madam speaker , the issue of national security letters was not in the patriot act that was enacted in 2001 . 
they were enacted in 1986 in a bill that was written over in the other body . 
this conference report puts procedural safeguards into national security letters even though they are not a part of the patriot act that was passed in 2001 . 
it makes changes to all nsl provisions , not just electronic communications as the senate wanted . 
it permits disclosure of nsls to legal counsel and those necessary to comply with the letter . 
that is not in the law now . 
it creates explicit access to judicial review of the government 's request for records . 
it permits the reviewing court to modify or set aside the nsl if compliance would be unreasonable , oppressive or otherwise unlawful , the same standard for quashing a subpoena . 
it permits judicial review of the nondisclosure requirement . 
it creates a 5-year felony criminal penalty for unauthorized disclosures of nsls with intent to obstruct an investigation or judicial proceeding , just like the obstruction of justice statute . 
the 1-year misdemeanor for disclosure without intent to obstruct , that is not in the conference reports . 
that is out . 
it requires the doj inspector general to conduct two audits of the fbi 's use of national security letters . 
one audit covers 2003 and 2004 , the other 2005 and 2006 . 
it requires the attorney general and the director of national intelligence to submit to congress a report on the feasibility of applying minimization procedures to nsl to ensure the protection of constitutional rights of united states persons , and it requires an annual public reporting on national security letters , including the aggregate number of requests made by the justice department for information concerning different u.s. persons . 
now , national security letters are not subject to the sunset . 
they are in the earlier law . 
if the argument that has been advanced by the gentleman from new york succeeds , all of the protections i have just described go down the drain with the rest of the bill . 
madam speaker , i reserve the balance of my time . 
