Feingold Joins Colleagues to Fix Problems with PATRIOT Act, and Protect Liberty and Privacy Bipartisan Legislation Seeks to Amend Several Controversial Provisions that Permit the FBI to Monitor Americans with Inadequate Judicial Oversight October 3, 2003 Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Russ Feingold last evening, along with Senators Larry Craig (R-ID), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mike Crapo (R-ID), John Sununu (R-NH) and others, introduced the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act. This bipartisan legislation seeks to amend several particularly controversial provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that permit the FBI to monitor law-abiding Americans without adequate judicial oversight. The SAFE Act reins in secret searches, curbs roving wiretaps, and imposes reasonable limits on FBI access to records, including library, bookseller, medical, and other records containing sensitive, personal information about law abiding Americans. In October 2001, Feingold was the only member of the U.S. Senate to oppose the passage of the PATRIOT Act, and since then, many members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have joined in his fight to fix problems with the Act which he originally identified. Upon introduction of the bipartisan bill, Feingold made the following statement: "This bipartisan bill should be a wake-up call to the administration: It's time to address legitimate and honest concerns about the PATRIOT Act. My colleagues and I have proposed sensible modifications to the PATRIOT Act that will protect the liberty and privacy of law-abiding Americans and still allow the FBI to do its job to fight terrorism. I am particularly pleased that colleagues on both sides of the aisle have now joined me in calling for changes to provisions that I first criticized two years ago during the Senate's too brief debate on the PATRIOT Act." Feingold has previously proposed changes to the same PATRIOT Act provisions that would be modified by the SAFE Act. He offered amendments to the PATRIOT Act on roving wiretaps and record subpoena authority during Senate floor debate on the bill in October 2001. He also voiced concerns about 'sneak and peek' searches during the October 2001 debate and has now introduced the Reasonable Notice and Search Act (S. 1701) to address those concerns. He has introduced the Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act (S. 1507) to place privacy safeguards on the FBI's access to records.

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