The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee passed the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845) today with a vote of 16-10 after two days of lengthy debate.

Numerous amendments were offered during the debate, including an amendment from Rep. Gallegly (R-CA) that would have stripped the library exception completely from the bill. During the debate on this amendment, Reps. Watt (D-NC) and Nadler (D-NY) voiced support for libraries, and the amendment failed in a party-line vote of 21-13.

We are awaiting the release of the official language and will post additional information after further analysis. It is unclear when this bill will go to the House floor for a vote, and there are other pending bills including a bill from the House Intelligence Committee as well as a bill introduced by Rep. Holt (D-NJ).

Stay tuned!

Lynne Bradley
director, Office of Government Relations

Libraries, Advocacy and Social Media from ALA Washington on Vimeo.

Dr. Curtis Rogers (South Carolina State Library), Kristin Murphy (ALA Washington Office) and Stephanie Vance (Advocacy Guru) on how libraries can use social media techniques to capture the attention of policymakers and the public they represent — from townhall to Washington, DC! If you’re wondering how to use Web 2.0 to get heard on issues that matter to your library, this is the video to watch.

See also: Libraries, Advocacy and Social Media Powerpoint slide deck

The Strengthening Kids’ Interest in Learning and Libraries Act, or the SKILLs Act, was re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week with support from both sides of the aisle.  This legislation is intended to ensure that all students will have the support and resources they need for a quality education by establishing a goal that all public school libraries employ no less than one highly qualified school library media specialist.

H.R. 3928 was introduced by Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-7) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI-3) and was referred to the House Education and Labor Committee.

In 2007 the SKILLs Act was introduced in the 110th Congress by both Reps. Grijalva and Ehlers and received 30 cosponsors.  This SKILLs Act was also introduced in the U.S. Senate in the 110th Congress by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and received bi-partisan sponsorship from Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS), John Kerry (D-MA), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).  There is no Senate legislation yet in the 111th Congress.  In the 110th Congress, the SKILLs Act failed to be reported out of committee.

Jeff Kratz
Assistant Director, OGR

Call your member in the House of Representatives and urge her/him to reform the USA PATRIOT Act now!  Please ask your representative to co-sponsor the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845), introduced by Rep. Conyers (MI-14) and others on October 20, 2009.

Mr. Conyers and the other cosponsors should be thanked for introducing H.R. 3845.  To access the bill text, please click here:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3845
A mark-up in the House Judiciary Committee is currently scheduled for Wednesday, November 4. Your calls are urgently needed before this mark-up!  Call your individual representative’s office or the U.S. Capital switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

BACKGROUND: Three PATRIOT Act provisions are set to expire on December 31, 2009. This is the best chance we have had in the last eight years to get significant reforms to Section 215, often called the “library provision,” and to national security letters (NSLs).
The USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 protects constitutional speech and privacy rights by:

• Amending the NSL statute to ensure that the government only obtains financial, communication and credit records of people believed to be terrorists or spies;
• Requiring the government to convince a court that a national security gag order is necessary; and
• Ensuring that Section 215 does not authorize collection of library and bookstore records if they contain individualized information on the patron.

To find out who your member of Congress is, please go to the Legislative Action Center: http://capwiz.com/ala/home/

Library grassroots advocacy efforts have helped lead to the introduction of this strong Conyers bill to bring balance back to our civil liberties while allowing law enforcement to fight terrorist threats.  We must do everything we can to ensure that the House of Representatives passes H.R. 3845, a bill that can lead to genuine reform of the deeply-flawed USA PATRIOT Act.

This is especially so because the Senate is set to pass a bill with far, far weaker reforms.  Also, as expected, there is significant opposition to these reforms, including from the White House, the Department of Justice and the House Intelligence Committee.  Many calls from library supporters and others will be needed to overcome this opposition.  Call now with the following message:
THE MESSAGE:

• Pass H.R. 3845 to protect reader privacy and other First Amendment activities in libraries and bookstores;
• Reform Section 215 and national security letters so that a higher legal standard is required to obtain these types of orders;
• Ensure and maintain the legal right to challenge gag orders and require judicial review and reassessment to continue such gag orders;
• Continue the required audits and public reports so that Congress and the public can assess the impact of these laws; and
• Maintain the sunsets so that there can be regular Congressional and public oversight to protect against abuses of law enforcement powers.