HR 3179 is a Sensenbrenner-Goss bill that would expand the Patriot Act. It is time to oppose this bill strongly, as it has started moving in the House. A subcommittee of House Judiciary held a hearing on May 18, then Congressional Quarterly reported last week that Goss (Chair of House Intelligence Committee) is considering tacking the whole thing onto the intelligence authorization bill so it can be marked up in closed session. The attached letter objects both to the idea of considering these important issues in the secret process of the intelligence authorization bill, and to the substance of the bill itself.

This piece of legislation would expand the ?secret proceedings? already being used in government cases, would set criminal penalties for a library or other entities or persons to whom a government-issued subpoena is issued if they disclose it to anyone else, and would expand the reach of the Patriot Act to foreign persons with no connection to any foreign power.