Leahy, Schumer And Sununu Release Letter
In Which A Majority Of Senate Urges 3-Month
Extension Of PATRIOT Act
U.S.
Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), John Sununu (R-NH),
and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released a letter today
signed by a majority of the U.S. Senate urging
Majority Leader Bill Frist to extend PATRIOT Act by
three months. A majority of Senators, 52 at press
time, have signed the letter in support of a
three-month extension in order to provide more time
for the Senate to agree on a conference report to
reauthorize the Act. The letter text and
signatories are below:
PDF
December 20, 2005
The Honorable
William H. Frist, MD
United States
Senate Majority Leader
Room S-230, The
Capitol
Washington, DC
20510
Dear Mr. Majority Leader,
We are writing to let you know of our support of S. 2082,
bi-partisan legislation introduced by Senators Sununu and Leahy,
that would provide a three month extension of the expiring
provisions of the PATRIOT Act and the lone wolf provision of the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act in the event the
Senate is unable to gain agreement on a conference report to
reauthorize these provisions.
We sincerely hope that House and Senate negotiators will reach
agreement this week on a reauthorization bill that balances the
needs of law enforcement with civil liberty protections for innocent
Americans. However, if such an agreement cannot be reached before
both Houses adjourn this week, federal law enforcement officials
should continue to have use of the investigative tools of the
PATRIOT Act. A three month extension of the expiring provisions of
the PATRIOT Act and the lone wolf provision of the Intelligence
Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act will accomplish this goal.
As you, President Bush, Attorney General Gonzales and others have
emphatically noted in recent days, the PATRIOT Act provides
important tools for federal law enforcement officials to investigate
and prevent terrorist attacks. Therefore, these law enforcement
tools should remain in place should our work on final
reauthorization legislation take us into the New Year.
Sincerely,
So far, signatories to the Leahy-Schumer-Sununu letter include 8
Republicans and all Democrats except for Sen. Feingold, who has said
he would vote with Democrats, but declined to sign the letter:
1. Sen. Chafee, Lincoln (R-RI)
2. Sen. Collins, Susan (R-ME)
3. Sen. Craig, Larry (R-ID)
4. Sen. Crapo, Mike (R-ID)
5. Sen. Hagel, Chuck (R-NE)
6. Sen. Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)
7. Sen. Snowe, Olympia (R-ME)
8. Sen. Sununu, John (R-NH)
9. Sen. Akaka, Daniel (D-HI)
10. Sen. Baucus, Max (D-MT)
11. Sen. Bayh, Evan (D-IN)
12. Sen. Biden, Joseph (D-DE)
13. Sen. Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM)
14. Sen. Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
15. Sen. Byrd, Robert (D-WV)
16. Sen. Cantwell, Maria (D-WA)
17. Sen. Carper, Thomas (D-DE)
18. Sen. Clinton, Hillary (D-NY)
19. Sen. Conrad, Kent (D-ND)
20. Sen. Corzine, Jon (D-NJ)
21. Sen. Dayton, Mark (D-MN)
22. Sen. Dodd, Christopher (D-CT)
23. Sen. Dorgan, Byron (D-ND)
24. Sen. Durbin, Richard (D-IL)
25. Sen. Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
26. Sen. Harkin, Tom (D-IA)
27. Sen. Inouye, Daniel (D-HI)
28. Sen. Jeffords, Jim (I-VT)
29. Sen. Johnson, Tim (D-SD)
30. Sen. Kennedy, Edward (D-MA)
31. Sen. Kerry, John (D-MA)
32. Sen. Kohl, Herbert (D-WI)
33. Sen. Landrieu, Mary (D-LA)
34. Sen. Lautenberg, Frank (D-NJ)
35. Sen. Leahy, Patrick (D-VT)
36. Sen. Levin, Carl (D-MI)
37. Sen. Lieberman, Joseph (D-CT)
38. Sen. Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR)
39. Sen. Mikulski, Barbara (D-MD)
40. Sen. Murray, Patty (D-WA)
41. Sen. Nelson, Ben (D-NE)
42. Sen. Nelson, Bill (D-FL)
43. Sen. Obama, Barack (D-IL)
44. Sen. Pryor, Mark (D-AR)
45. Sen. Reed, Jack (D-RI)
46. Sen. Reid, Harry (D-NV)
47. Sen. Rockefeller, John (D-WV)
48. Sen. Salazar, Ken (D-CO)
49. Sen. Sarbanes, Paul (D-MD)
50. Sen. Schumer, Charles (D-NY)
51. Sen. Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
52. Sen. Wyden, Ron (D-OR)
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