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Posted February 21, 2004 |
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Otter applauds book, library groups
From the office of Congressman C.L. "Butch" Otter
February 20, 2004
Congressman C.L. "Butch" Otter on Friday hailed a new, nationwide effort by groups representing booksellers, librarians and writers to obtain one-million signatures in support of legislation amending a section of the U.S.A. Patriot Act that threatens the privacy rights of all Americans.
The groups hope to persuade Congress to restore safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records that were eliminated by the Patriot Act.
The Campaign for Reader Privacy, sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association and PEN American Center, will gather signatures in bookstores, libraries and on a new website, www.readerprivacy.org.
"It's encouraging to see folks standing up for their liberties," Otter said. "We can't take anything for granted, because the Constitution alone won't guarantee our freedoms. It requires a diligent and informed citizenry determined not to blithely surrender the rights for which others have fought and died. This petition drive is in the finest tradition of civic involvement in representative government. Those of us championing this cause in Congress are hopeful for its success."
Over the past year, Republicans, Democrats and Independents have joined to sponsor a number of bills to amend Section 215 of the Patriot Act, including the Freedom to Read Protection Act, HR 1157, and the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act, HR 3352. Congressman Otter is a sponsor of both bills.
"Booksellers are deeply concerned about the chilling effect of Section 215," said American Booksellers Association chief operating officer Oren Teicher.
Section 215 of the Patriot Act amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, giving the FBI vastly expanded authority to search business records, including the records of bookstores and libraries. The FBI may request the records secretly; it is not required to prove there is "probable cause" to believe a person whose records are being sought has committed a crime, and booksellers and librarians are prohibited from revealing record requests to anyone except those helping to produce the records.
"This isn't stripping law enforcement of power to investigate terrorism, said Larry Siems, director of PEN's Freedom to Write Program. "It's about restoring confidence that our reading choices aren't being monitored by the government."
More than 253 anti-Patriot Act resolutions have been passed nationwide in states, counties, cities and small towns, including New York City, Kansas City, Missouri, and Valencia County, New Mexico, in just the last two weeks.
"The federal government has attempted to monitor library records befire, and it seems inevitable that they will use Section 215 to try again," said Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
To demonstrate the unity of the book and library community, the groups also released a statement of support for proposed legislation that amends Section 215. That statement is signed by 40 organizations representing virtually every bookstore, library and writer in the country, as well as 81 individual companies including Barnes & Noble, Borders Group Inc., Ingram Book Group, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Holtzbrinck Publishers.
You can read that statement on-line at http://news.bookweb.org/read/2235.
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