Congressional Record: January 16, 2003 (Senate)
Page S1071-S1085
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
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By Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Wyden, and Mr.
Nelson of Florida):
S. 188. A bill to impose a moratorium on the implementation of
datamining under the Total Information Awareness program of the
Department of Defense and any similar program of the Department of
Homeland Security, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the
Judiciary.
Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I am pleased today to introduce the
Data-Mining Moratorium Act of 2003. Like many Americans, I was
surprised to learn during the last few months that the Department of
Defense has spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing a data-
mining system called Total Information Awareness while permitting the
progeny of Total Information Awareness to appear in places like the
Department of Homeland Security. The untested and controversial
intelligence procedure known as data-mining is capable of maintaining
extensive files containing both public and private records on each and
every American. Coupled with the expanded domestic surveillance already
underway by this Administration, this unchecked system is a dangerous
step forward and threatens one of the values that we're fighting for,
freedom. The Administration has a heavy burden of proof that such
extreme measures are necessary.
The Data-Mining Moratorium Act of 2003 would immediately suspend
data-mining in the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland
Security until Congress has conducted a thorough review of Total
Information Awareness and the practice of data-mining.
Without Congressional review and oversight, data-mining would allow
the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and
other government agencies to collect and analyze a combination of
intelligence data and personal information like individuals' traffic
violations, credit card purchases, travel records, medical records,
communications records, and virtually any information collected on
commercial or public databases. Through comprehensive data-mining, as
envisioned
[[Page S1080]]
with Total Information Awareness, everything from people's video
rentals or drugstore purchases made with a credit card to their most
private health concerns could be fed into a computer and monitored by
the Federal Government.
Using massive data mining, like Total Information Awareness, the
government hopes to be able to detect potential terrorists. There is no
evidence that data-mining will, in fact, prevent terrorism. And when
one considers the potential for errors in data, for example, credit
agencies that have data about John R. Smith on John D. Smith's credit
report, the prospect of ensnaring many innocents is real. This approach
might also lead to the same kinds of so-called ``preventive''
detentions that are unconstitutional and put more than 1,100
individuals in jail after September 11. Although none of these people
were ever charged with orchestrating or aiding the attacks, they were
often held for months on end, and went for weeks without access to
counsel. There is every reason to be concerned that uncontrolled data-
mining systems would lead to the same abuse of power.
The Administration's assurances that a data-mining system will not
abuse our privacy rights ring hollow, particularly to those of us who
questioned the breathtaking new Federal powers in the USA PATRIOT Act.
We heard these same assurances when the Administration pressed for
enactment of that sweeping legislation in the months after September
11th, that the government would act with restraint to ensure that its
application of the Act would not infringe on our liberties. The
opposite has turned out to be true. In fact, some of the most serious
infringements on our personal freedoms in the USA PATRIOT Act can now
contribute to the data-mining effort.
The USA PATRIOT Act allows the government to compel businesses to
produce records about people who had only a remote contact with a
person sought in connection with an investigation of terrorism,
including sitting on an airplane with the suspect, or having used the
same payphone as the suspect. Under the PATRIOT Act, any business
records can be compelled, including those containing sensitive personal
information like medical records from hospitals or doctors, financial
records, or records of what books someone has taken out of the
liberary. This information is exactly the kind of data that data-mining
programs like Total Infomration Awareness will use when compiling its
files on the American people.
The danger of data-mining is compounded not only by provisions in the
USA PATRIOT Act, but also by the Administration's loosening of domestic
surveillance restrictions for FBI agents last year, restrictions that
were put in place following FBI abuses under J. Edgar Hoover. These
various initiatives of the Administration are building on each other to
give away more and more of our personal information, and give away more
and more of our personal freedoms.
It is reasonable to ask Americans to sacrifice some personal freedom
like submitting to more extensive security screenings at airports. But
should we allow the government to track our every move, from what items
we purchase online, to our medical records, to our financial records,
without limits and without accountability? I believe most Americans
would say that that's a police state, not the America we know and love.
We would catch more terroists in a police state. I don't doubt that.
But that's not a country in which most Americans would want to live.
Each time we have been told that government authorities would use
restraint with its new powers, but Congress and the American people
should not find comfort in these assurances, especially since they have
been made by an Administration that has been operating in greater and
greater secrecy. The Administration must suspend this massive data
mining project until Congress can determine whether the proposed
benefits of this practice come at too high a price to our privacy and
personal liberties.
I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I ask unanimous
consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:
S. 188
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Data-Mining Moratorium Act
of 2003''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Use of advanced technology is an essential tool in the
fight against terrorism.
(2) There has been no demonstration that data-mining by a
government, including data-mining such as that which is to
occur under the Total Information Awareness program, is an
effective tool for preventing terrorism.
(3) Data-mining under the Total Information Awareness
program or a similar program would provide the Federal
Government with access to extensive files of private as well
as public information on an individual.
(4) There are significant concerns regarding the extent to
which privacy rights of individuals would be adversely
affected by data-mining carried out by their government.
(5) Congress has not reviewed any guidelines, rules, or
laws concerning implementation and use of data-mining by
Federal Government agencies.
SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL INFORMATION
AWARENESS PROGRAM FOR DATA MINING.
(a) Moratorium.--During the period described in subsection
(b), no officer or employee of the Department of Defense or
the Department of Homeland Security may take any action to
implement or carry out for data-mining purposes any part of
(including any research or development under)--
(1) the Department of Defense component of the Total
Information Awareness program or any other data-mining
program of the Department of Defense; or
(2) any data-mining program of the Department of Homeland
Security that is similar or related to the Total Information
Awareness program.
(b) Moratorium Period.--The period referred to in
subsection (a) for a department of the Federal Government is
the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act
and ending on the date (after the date of the enactment of
this Act) on which there is enacted a law specifically
authorizing data-mining by such department.
SEC. 4. REPORTS ON DATA-MINING ACTIVITIES.
(a) Requirement for Report.--The Secretary of Defense, the
Attorney General, and the head of each other department or
agency of the Federal Government that is engaged in any
activity to use or develop data-mining technology shall each
submit to Congress a report on all such activities of the
department or agency under the jurisdiction of that official.
(b) Content of report.--A report submitted under subsection
(a) shall include, for each activity to use or develop data-
mining technology that is required to be covered by the
report, the following information:
(1) A thorough description of the activity.
(2) A thorough discussion of the plans for the use of such
technology.
(3) A thorough discussion of the policies, procedures, and
guidelines that are to be applied in the use of such
technology for data-mining in order to--
(A) protect the privacy rights of individuals; and
(B) ensure that only accurate information is collected.
(c) Time for Report.--Each report required under subsection
(a) shall be submitted not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION OF PROVISIONS.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preclude the
Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security
from conducting--
(1) computer searches of public information; or
(2) computer searches that are based on a particularized
suspicion of an individual.
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