Washington Hotline Lynne E. Bradley

The USA Patriot Act substituted for the original House bill in a pro­ In barely six weeks of activity, Congress final­ cedural move by the House Rules Committee. ized passage of anti-terrorism legislation only With no opportunity to add amendments or modestly changed from that originally proposed get other reconsiderations, the House passed by Attorney General John Ashcroft immediately the “new ” (basically the Senate bill) H.R. 3108 following the terrorists’ attacks. Working with in a vote of 357 to 66 on October 12. Many our colleagues from the American Association members complained about the unusual pro­ of Law Libraries (AALL) and the Association of cess or lack thereof. Changes in the final lan­ Research Libraries (ARL), ALA identified sev­ guage included a sunset on the electronic sur­ eral fundamental areas of concerns in the draft veillance and a provision for judicial oversight legislation. These issues included: expansion of the use of the FBI’s Carnivore system. Some of pen register and trap and trace devices to observers are now speculating whether the lack the Internet; expansion of access to business of hearings or any other kind of public record records; expansion of access to educational in­ will subject the law to legal challenges because stitution records; expansion of the definition of lack of a legislative history. of terrorism; and new mandates for technol­ During the Senate proceedings, the library ogy- associations focused on amendments proposed During this entire period, ALA and our sis­ by Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin), subse­ ter library associations worked closely with the quently offered during floor debate. Unfortunately, Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) these amendments were defeated in a procedural and the broad coalition of organizations move to table. The Senate passed S. 1510 in a 98 brought together under the title of “In Defense to 1 vote late on October 11. During floor debate of Freedom” Coalition (IDOF) by the ACLU. on the business records and computer trespass IDOF includes ACLU as well as Free Congress amendments, key senators referenced the library Foundation, Friends Committee on National issues in particular. In a procedural vote on the Legislation, Gun Owners of America, The Eagle business records amendment, 11 senators voted Forum, the American Muslim Council, Ameri­ with Feingold, including Senator Alien Specter cans for Tax Reform, and many other diverse (R-Pennsylvania). groups. The next week, a conference committee met On October 2, ARL, AALL, and ALA released to negotiate the differences between the Sen­ a joint public statement, signed by our respec­ ate and House versions. There was no oppor- tive government relations staff, on each of our tunity to wiggle in some other definition or Web sites and subsequently all of our associa­ report language to accomplish some of our tions signed onto the IDOF statement. Later objectives. President Bush signed the bill on the Medical Library Association also signed onto October 26. the library statement. View the statement at: ALA is now working with outside legal ad­ http://www.ala.org/washoff/terrorism.pdf. visors to provide a systematic analysis of the On October 3, the House Judiciary Com­ law. For example, the section on business mittee passed H.R. 2975 unanimously. Although records raises complicated questions relative there were some amendments made during to state and other privacy laws. New privacy the markup, none were related to two of our provisions do not automatically preempt exist­ chief concerns: business records (including li­ ing state confidentiality laws regarding library brary and student records) and computer tres­ records unless an investigation is related to for­ passing. eign intelligence and anti-terrorism investiga­ On October 11, the Senate passed S. 1510. tions. In a related matter, we are also address­ The next morning the Senate bill language was ing the “take-down” of government informa­ tion from Web sites and the depository library Lynne E. Bradley is Office of Government Relations director programs. Watch for additional reports; there of ALA's Washington Office; e-mail: [email protected] is much more to come. ■

C&RL News ■ December 2001 / 1123