extension either. mr. president, americans would be alarmed if they knew how this law is being carried out. i appreciate the intelligence committee chairwoman, dianne feinstein, working with us to hold hearings in the committee to examine how the administration is interpreting the law. i believe that is a critical step forward. however, that addresses only the overcharging concern. i still have concerns about the individual provisions that we are considering today. we just voted to invoke cloture

committee for over a decade and i want to deliver a warning this afternoon. when the american people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the pa patt act, they are going to be stunned and they are going to be angry. they're going to ask senators, "did you know what this law actually permits?" "why didn't you know before you voted on it?" the fact is, anyone can read the plain text of the patriot act, and yet many members of congress have no idea how the law is being secretly interpreted by the executive branch because that interpretation is classified. it's almost as if there were two patriot acts, and many members of congress have not read the one that matters. our constituents, of course, are totally in the dark. members of the public have no access to the secret legal interpretations so they have no idea what their government

committee for over a decade and

that 40-year-old program, but reaching an agreement on that program should not be used as another excuse for moving the goal post. all three of the pending trade agreements need to be sent to congress without further delay. i yield back the balance of my time and yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: mr. president, the united states senate is preparing to passion another four-year extension of the u.s.a. patriot act. i served on the intelligence committee for over a decade and i want to deliver a warning this afternoon. when the american people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the pa patt act, they are going to be stunned and they are going to be angry. they're going to ask senators, "did you know what this law actually permits?" "why didn't you know before you voted on it?" the fact is, anyone can read the plain text of the patriot act,

i served on the intelligence committee for over a decade and i want to deliver a warning this afternoon. when the american people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the pa patt act, they are going to be stunned and they are going to be angry. they're going to ask senators, "did you know what this law actually permits?" "why didn't you know before you voted on it?" the fact is, anyone can read the plain text of the patriot act,

on hrou-abiding -- on law-abiding americans without any connections to terrorism or espionage. if we cannot limit investigations to terrorism or other nefarious activities, where do they end? the coloradoans are demanding that in addition to the review of the foreign intelligence surveillance corps, we place commonsense limits on government investigations and link data collection to terrorist or espionage-related activities. if did -- or should i say when congress passes this bill to

investigate terrorist or espionage-related targets. yet, section 215 of the patriot act, the so-called business records provision, currently allows records to be collected on hrou-abiding -- on law-abiding americans without any connections to terrorism or espionage. if we cannot limit investigations to terrorism or other nefarious activities, where do they end? the coloradoans are demanding that in addition to the review of the foreign intelligence

this is a lost opportunity, mr. president. as a member of the intelligence committee, i can tell you that what most people, including many members of congress, believe is that the patriot act allows the government to do what it allows -- what it allows the government to do and what government officials privately believe the patriot act allows them to do, those are two different things. senator wyden has been making that case, and i want to make it as well. and i can't support the extension of the provisions we're considering today without amendments to ensure that there's a check on executive branch authority. and i don't believe that the coloradoans who sent me here to