mr. chairman . 
i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 3199 , the usa patriot and terrorism prevention reauthorization act , because i swore to uphold the constitution . 
the patriot act clearly violates all americans ' fifth amendment right to due process and fourth amendment guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure , among others . 
if the government takes our rights away in order to supposedly defend them , what are we even fighting for ? 
using the patriot act over the last four years , the bush administration has monitored meetings of citizens who dare to criticize their government . 
it has searched homes without warrants and listened in on phone conversations without any reasonable justification . 
if this is the price of security , now is a fair time to ask : what security have we gained ? 
the terrorist who mailed anthrax to the u.s. capitol and shut down a senate office building for two weeks is still at large , but a university of connecticut graduate student who studies anthrax in petri dishes was charged with bioterrorism . 
the cargo that rides aboard almost every commercial flight remains unsecured , but a new jersey man faces up to 20 years in prison under the patriot act for looking at star 's with his seven year old daughter because he shone a laser beam on an airplane . 
i am proud to represent one of the most diverse congressional districts in the country . 
the people of the 13th district know that your ethnicity , religion or country of origin is not indicative of your commitment to community -- or anything else , for that matter . 
that 's why cities across the east bay were among the first in the nation to pass resolutions condemning the patriot act . 
i stand with them in support of those actions . 
mr. chairman , searching my constituents ' homes and not telling them , collecting information about what they read , and tracking their e-mail and web usage is a war on liberty to create a false sense of security . 
to paraphrase one of our founding fathers , ben franklin , the nation that sacrifices liberty for security deserves neither . 
i urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this unpatriotic act . 
