Udall and Bingaman Lead Fight to Reform Patriot Act

In this video, Senator Tom Udall discusses Justice Act legislation, aimed at reforming the Patriot Act, and other surveillance laws to better protect Americans' constitutional right to privacy while providing the government with the tools necessary to effectively fight terrorism.



Last week, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman told radio reporters, on a teleconference call, that he thinks some provisions in the Patriot Act can be fixed, in a Justice Act measure being considered in Washington, this year.

“This Justice Act, which was introduced this last week, tries to make changes in various provisions of law that were put in effect during the Bush Administration which I think do raises serious questions about the rights of private records of American citizens,” said Bingaman.

Bingaman said he believes that while there may be not Republican co-sponsors of the Justice Act he believes it will get some bi-partisan support.

“I think there are things that were done, and should have been done, to strengthen our ability to maintain surveillance of terrorists activities, but I think we went too far,” said Bingaman. “And so, my own view is we can go back and make corrections in the legislation that was passed, and that would be a good thing to do. It’s all a question of how do you balance the need to maintain security in a very dangerous world and the rights of American’s not to be spied upon.”