Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On Reports of the Government Obtaining Library Records Nearly 200 Times Since 2001 June 20, 2005 "The Administration has repeatedly assured us that it has not used Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to obtain library records, and Attorney General Gonzales told Congress in April that the Justice Department "has no interest in rummaging through the library records" of Americans. Yet we now know that federal, state and local investigators have obtained library records, through both formal and informal means, nearly 200 times -- at a minimum -- since 2001. It should not have taken a privately funded American Library Association survey for Congress and the public to get this information. The President and his Administration need to stop being cagey with Congress. We need answers to basic questions about how the Administration has used the PATRIOT Act and other investigative powers. The Administration's continued attempts to dodge congressional oversight are a disservice to our constitutional system of checks and balances, and to the people whom we all serve."

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