Feingold Introduces Legislation to Protect Personal Information USA PATRIOT Act Fix Needed to Limit Government Access to Library Records and Personal Information About Law-Abiding Americans July 31, 2003 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold today introduced the Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act. This legislation is aimed at protecting the privacy of law-abiding Americans by limiting the ability of the FBI to obtain library, bookstore, medical, and financial records and other sensitive personal information under the USA PATRIOT Act. Feingold's legislation would place reasonable limits on the FBI's access to this information by requiring the FBI to show how the information it is seeking relates to a suspected terrorist or spy before the information can be obtained. "The Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act would restore the privacy of Americans, while also allowing the FBI to follow up on legitimate leads," Feingold said. "This legislation recognizes that under certain circumstances the FBI should have access to library, bookseller or other personal information and simply puts safeguards in place to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens." The concerns about possible abuse of the PATRIOT Act are so strong that some librarians across the country have taken the step of destroying records of book and computer use, as well as posting signs on computer stations warning patrons that whatever they read or access on the Internet could be monitored by the federal government. "The American people want the FBI to be focused on preventing terrorism," Feingold said. "It makes sense to make some changes to the law to allow the FBI access to the information that it needs to prevent terrorism. But as more and more Americans are realizing, we do not need to change the values that constitute who we are as a nation in order to protect ourselves from terrorism. We can protect both our nation and our privacy and civil liberties." Feingold was the only Senator to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act at the time of its passage in October 2001. Among the amendments Feingold offered during the floor debate was an amendment to make it clear that existing federal and state privacy protections of certain information would not be diminished or superceded by the USA PATRIOT Act. Click here for Senator Feingold's floor statement on the Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act Click here to view S. 1507, the Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act

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