Washington — House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John
Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) has introduced the “USA PATRIOT Act Sunset
Extension Act of 2011,” the House counterpart to a bipartisan bill that
recently passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The proposal makes meaningful improvements to the PATRIOT
Act and related authorities, and has the support of the Obama administration
and the intelligence community. 
The bill is co-sponsored by Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence, Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md).

 “In
sixteen days, three provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act are
set to expire,” said Conyers. 
“It is clear that many members of both parties still have serious
concerns about the PATRIOT Act, including these three provisions.  But instead of discussing these
concerns, the majority has introduced legislation that would make the Lone Wolf
authority permanent and extend the business records and roving wiretaps for six
years.  Their bill would make no
improvements to the PATRIOT Act. 
It includes no new protections for privacy.  It requires no reporting to Congress.  I do not support this approach.”

 “Instead,
we should be open to negotiation and compromise.  I have introduced a bill that has already been reported out
by the Senate Judiciary, a bill that has bipartisan support and the backing of
the intelligence community.  For
many, this bill will not go far enough; for others, it may go too far.  For me, the bill represents the
reasonable middle ground.  With the
short time we have—and with the need to find a measure that can win the support
of the Senate and the Administration—I think this bipartisan compromise measure
is the proper vehicle for moving this issue forward.”