i rise today in opposition to the patriot act reauthorization conference report . 
as a former federal prosecutor and new mexico 's attorney general , i am familiar with both the needs of law enforcement to pursue suspects and a strong supporter of law enforcement . 
i am also a strong supporter of civil liberties and believe that our constitution must be guarded against encroachment even in the name of security . 
on october 24 , 2001 , a justified sense of urgency resulted in an unjustifiably rushed vote on the patriot act . 
many of us had little time to study the bill which became law . 
a bipartisan bill was junked by the majority 's rules committee in the middle of the night . 
since this legislation was enacted , over 385 cities , towns , and counties in 43 states passed resolutions concerning the patriot act . 
in new mexico alone , 10 cities and four counties have adopted resolutions calling for reform . 
i have received thousands of letters from americans worried about excessive government power without judicial oversight . 
i had hoped during the conference committee senate provisions granting more congressional oversight and constitutional protections would have been kept in this bill . 
the senate version contained greater restrictions on the government 's power and required higher standards for record demands . 
however , the conference report is more of the same . 
it extends for 4 years two of the most controversial provisions of the bill , including the section granting law enforcement authorities unprecedented powers to search library and bookstore records without probable cause or the need for search warrants . 
this bill also makes permanent 14 provisions of the patriot act that were set to expire this year . 
this bill has serious problems . 
national security letters are out of control , with no meaningful oversight . 
it has been reported that 30 , 000 national security letters are issued every year . 
these letters allow the government to collect almost limitless sensitive , personal information without judicial approval . 
we should target this government power against terrorists , not against innocent americans . 
i will vote against this bill today , not because i oppose the patriot act in its entirety but because i believe that the needs of law enforcement can be met without eroding our liberties . 
