[Congressional Record: January 10, 2007 (Senate)]
[Page S394-S395]


                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______


  SENATE RESOLUTION 22--REAFFIRMING THE CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY
   PROTECTIONS ACCORDED SEALED DOMESTIC MAIL, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Carper, Mr. Coleman, and
Mr. Akaka) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs:

                               S. Res. 22

       Whereas all Americans depend on the United States Postal
     Service to transact business and communicate with friends and
     family;
       Whereas postal customers have a constitutional right to
     expect that their sealed domestic mail will be protected
     against unreasonable searches;
       Whereas the circumstances and procedures under which the
     Government may search sealed mail are well defined, including
     provisions under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of
     1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and generally require prior
     judicial approval;
       Whereas the United States Postal Inspection Service has the
     authority to open and search a sealed envelope or package
     when there is immediate threat to life or limb or an
     immediate and substantial danger to property;
       Whereas the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act
     (Public Law 109-435) expressly reaffirmed the right of postal
     customers to have access to a class of mail sealed against
     inspection;
       Whereas the United States Postal Service affirmed January
     4, 2007, that the enactment of the Postal Accountability and
     Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435) does not grant Federal
     law enforcement officials any new authority to open domestic
     mail;
       Whereas the signing statement on the Postal Accountability
     and Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435) issued by President
     Bush on December 20, 2006, raises questions about the
     President's commitment to abide by these basic privacy
     protections; and
       Whereas the Senate rejects any interpretation of the
     President's signing statement on the Postal Accountability
     and Enhancement Act (Public Law 109-435) that in any way
     diminishes the privacy protections accorded sealed domestic
     mail under the Constitution and Federal laws and regulations:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate reaffirms the constitutional and
     statutory protections accorded sealed domestic mail.

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a Senate
resolution that will reaffirm the fundamental constitutional and
statutory protections accorded sealed domestic mail. I am very pleased
to have the distinguished chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs
and Homeland Security Committee, Senator Lieberman, as a cosponsor,
Senator Carper, who was the author of the postal reform bill with me in
the last Congress, Senator Coleman, and Senator Akaka, all of whom have
been very active on postal issues.
  On December 20, President Bush signed into law the Postal
Accountability and Enhancement Act that Senator Carper and I originally
introduced in 2004. This new law represents the most sweeping reforms
to the U.S. Postal Service in more than 30 years.
  The Presiding Officer and new chairman of the committee knows well
that of all the legislation our committee produced last year, in many
ways this was the most difficult to bring to completion.
  The act, which will help the 225-year-old Postal Service, meets the
challenges of the 21st century, establishes a new rate-setting system,
helps ensure a stronger financial future for the Postal Service,
provides more stability and predictability in rates, and protects the
basic feature of universal service. One of the act's many provisions
provides continued authority for the Postal Service to establish a
class of mail sealed against inspection.
  The day President Bush signed the Postal Reform Act into law, he also
issued a signing statement construing that particular provision to
permit ``searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human
life and safety.'' While I understand that the President's spokesman
has explained that the signing statement did not intend to change the
scope of this new law, it has resulted in considerable confusion and
widespread concern about the President's commitment to abide by the
basic privacy protections afforded sealed domestic mail. For some, it
raised the specter of the Government unlawfully monitoring our mail in
the name of national security.
  Given this unfortunate perception, I wish to be very clear as the
author of this legislation. Nothing in the Postal Reform Act, nor in
the President's signing statement, alters in any way

[[Page S395]]

the privacy and civil liberty protections provided to a person who
sends or receives sealed mail. In fact, the President's signing
statement appears to do nothing more than restate current law, but by
the mere act of issuing the signing statement, unfortunately, the
administration raised questions about what, in fact, is their intent.
  Under current law, mail sealed against inspection is entitled to the
strongest possible protections against physical searches, the
protections afforded by our Constitution which guard against
unreasonable searches. With only limited exceptions, the Government
needs a warrant issued by a court before it can search sealed mail.
This is true whether the search is conducted under our Criminal Code to
obtain evidence of a crime or under the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, FISA, of 1978 to collect foreign intelligence
information concerning a national security threat. Only when there is
an immediate danger to life or limb or an immediate and substantial
danger to property can the Government search a domestic sealed letter
or package without a warrant. Let me give a couple of examples. That
could occur when there are wires protruding from a package, for
example, or odors escaping from an envelope or stains on the outside of
a package indicating that the contents may constitute an immediate
danger or threat.
  Americans depend on the U.S. Postal Service to transact business and
to communicate with friends and family, and if there is any doubt in
the public's mind that the Government is not protecting the
constitutional privacy accorded their mail, if there is suspicion that
the Government is unlawfully opening mail, then our Nation's confidence
in the sanctity of our mail system and, indeed, in our Government will
be eroded. That is precisely why I am joining with my colleagues in
submitting this resolution today. It makes clear to all law-abiding
Americans that the Federal Government will not invade their privacy by
reading their sealed mail absent a court order or emergency
circumstances. Any contrary interpretation of the Postal Reform Act is
just plain wrong.
  I invite my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this resolution
which reaffirms the constitutional and statutory protections accorded
to domestic sealed mail. I say to the Presiding Officer, the chairman
of the committee with jurisdiction over this matter, that I hope we can
act very quickly and get this resolution approved by the full Senate. I
believe it is important that we go on record without any delay to
assure the American people that those protections which they value so
much are still in place and have not been altered, given the doubt that
the President's signing statement created.

                          ____________________