Freedom to Read Protection Act Now Has 58 Co-Sponsors
At present, 58 fellow members of Congress have joined Rep. Bernie Sanders in introducing federal legislation that would remove a threat created by the USA Patriot Act to the privacy of bookstore and library records. The bill, H.R. 1157, the Freedom to Read Protection Act, would prevent the FBI from seeking "personally identifiable information concerning a patron of a bookseller or library." However, the government could still attempt to subpoena this information if it can make sufficient legal showing.
Currently, under the Patriot Act, the FBI has vastly expanded authority to search business records, including the records of bookstores and libraries. The FBI may request the records secretly, and it is not required to prove that there is "probable cause" to believe that the person whose records are being sought has committed a crime. In addition, the bookseller or librarian who receives an order is prohibited from revealing it to anyone except those whose help is needed to produce the records.
H.R. 1157 has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and, in addition, to the Committee on Intelligence.
Below is a list of the bill's sponsors and co-sponsors, including Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, who recently spoke to BTW regarding the importance of the Freedom to Read Protection Act. (To read the interview, click here).
Speaking about the growing list of sponsors, Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, said, "We are very encouraged by the rapid increase in the support for the Freedom to Read Protection Act. We hope that the booksellers will take a look at the list of co-sponsors. If their representative is there, we're sure they will want to express their appreciation. If their representative is among the missing, we hope they will write to encourage him or her to support H.R. 1157."
It is generally the case that a letter on store or personal letterhead carries more weight with a representative. Given the delays in U.S. postal deliveries to Washington, D.C., following the anthrax scare, letters are best sent by fax. E-mail can easily be sent to a Congress member easily through the Web site http://www.house.gov/writerep.
| Sponsors |
| Ron Paul (R-TX) John Conyers (D-MI) William Lipinski (D-IL) Butch Otter (R-ID) |
| Co-Sponsors |
| Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) Rick Boucher (D-VA) Corrine Brown (D-FL) Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Lois Capps (D-CA) Michael Capuano (D-MA) Julia Carson (D-IN) Danny K. Davis (D-IL) Peter Defazio (D-OR) William D. Delahunt (D-MA) Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT) Eliot Engel (D-NY) Anna Eshoo (D-CA) Sam Farr (D-CA) Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Harold E. Ford (D-TN) Barney Frank (D-MA) Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) William Jefferson (D-LA) Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (D-MI) Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Tom Lantos (D-CA) Rick Larsen (D-WA) Barbara Lee (D-CA) Betty McCollum (D-MN) Jim McDermott (D-WA) James McGovern (D-MA) Donald Manzullo (R-IL) George Miller (D-CA) Dennis Moore (D-KS) Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) John Oliver (D-MA) Major Owens (D-NY) Ed Pastor (D-AZ) Collin Peterson (D-MN) Nick Rahall (D-WV) Martin Sabo (D-MN) Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL) Jose Serrano (D-NY) Pete Stark (D-CA) Edolphus Towns (D-NY) Mark Udall (D-CO) Tom Udall (D-NM) Maxine Waters (D-CA) Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) |
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