We are hoping that you will be willing to submit an updated version of your statement that would point

Testimony of The Honorable Thomas B. Evans, Jr. Before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties of the House Judiciary Committee September 22, 2009 Thank you for the opportunity to testify today regarding the need to reform the Patriot Act. I am grateful to the leadership of this Subcommittee for holding this hearing on a subject of great importance to both our national security and our individual liberties. I am especially heartened to see this Subcommittee exercising its oversight responsibility, such a critically important element in our system of checks and balances. I thought seriously about joining the FBI in the late 1950s. My experience serving as a Member of Congress (R – DE) only enhanced my appreciation that we must provide the FBI with the means it needs to protect the American people. This was further strengthened, of course, by the attacks of September 11, 2001. In the wake of that terrible tragedy, our nation clearly needed to mobilize to respond with a new and powerful counter-terrorism strategy. But we must not allow our fears to lead us to overreaction, and whenever we grant powers to the executive branch, we must incorporate proper safeguards to protect individual rights and ensure oversight. Unfortunately, the Patriot Act was initially put together in haste in the wake of the September 11th attacks, and the Congress, pressed hard by the Administration, failed to consider all the ...