New Legislation to Oppose Patriot Act

Amendment would ask that libraries and bookstores be exempt from the law

Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 2/1/2003

Congressman Bernard Sanders (I-VT) plans to introduce new legislation in the 108th Congress that would exempt libraries and booksellers from certain provisions of the USA Patriot Act, a new antiterrorism law that gives the FBI easy access to user information.

Sanders, who is still drafting the amendment, says he's specifically targeting libraries and bookstores because the Act is an affront to people's rights to free speech and privacy.

"The right to read without government interference is certainly a basic American right," Sanders says. "My fear is that students will be concerned about studying and looking at certain subjects—whether it's Osama bin Laden, terrorism, or nuclear weapons. The [Patriot Act] will have a chilling effect."

Sanders, who was prompted to take action after receiving a letter from the Vermont Library Association, hasn't officially approached other lawmakers about his plans but expects to have strong bipartisan support. "It's a personal privacy issue and placing limits on that is troubling to members of Congress and all Americans," says Joel Barkin, Sanders's spokesman. The White House, however, will likely oppose the move because President Bush and his staff wrote the Patriot Act, Sanders adds. The congressman also hopes to increase the amount of information the federal government reveals about its activities under the law.

Sanders and librarians say they support the fight against terrorism but that the Patriot Act goes too far because "librarians suddenly become 'semi-agents' working for the U.S. government," Sanders says.

Signed into law October 2001, the Patriot Act gives FBI agents broad authority to ask librarians and booksellers for information about their users' reading habits and Internet searches, without probable cause or a search warrant.