DELAURO ON REAUTHORIZATION AND EXTENSION OF PATRIOT ACT

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3), Ranking Member on the Labor, Education, Health, and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, issued the following statement today on the reauthorization and extension of three provisions of the PATRIOT Act.

"I voted against a four year extension of the PATRIOT Act today, as I have always held reservations about this bill, and believe deeply in the importance of balancing the need for security with the need to protect the individual liberties that make our nation great. This bill reauthorizes three expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act until 2015 without making common sense improvements to protect Americans' privacy and without any further reporting or oversight."

"I believe we need to carefully examine and debate these provisions, particularly when the government is given broad authority to access the personal information of individuals, to ensure we are properly balancing national security concerns with protecting civil liberties. I voted against PATRIOT Act extensions in the past because I believe we needed diligent oversight and debate on the implementation of certain provisions instead of just rubber-stamping them. And I voted against the PATRIOT Act today because I believe it continues to provide an overreaching and invasive blank check for the next four years."