A bipartisan bill introduced to Congress on Monday aims to curtail "overboard" subpoena power given to federal authorities by the Patriot Act.

Congressmen Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said in a release that National Security Letters, used by federal authorities to cull private information such as Internet histories and financial records, have led to "rampant abuse" and must be curbed.

"To ensure that Americans' privacy and free speech rights are protected, there must be clear oversight and strict guidelines tied to the use of NSLs," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, in an advisory on Monday. "Mr. Nadler and Mr. Flake should be applauded for taking this legislative step. Their bill will realign the current NSL authority with the Constitution. Congress must take this opportunity to rein in the power of the NSL."

"Government reports confirm that upwards of 50,000 of these secret record demands go out each year," noted IPS News.

The ACLU's press release follows.

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Congressmen Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced legislation today to narrow the overbroad subpoena power in the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the Patriot Act. The bipartisan bill, National Security Letters Reform Act of 2009, aims to curb rampant abuse of that power by federal law enforcement following the expansion of the Patriot Act and was introduced with 17 cosponsors. NSLs are secret subpoenas used to demand personal customer records from Internet Service Providers, financial institutions and credit companies without prior court approval.

"To ensure that Americans' privacy and free speech rights are protected, there must be clear oversight and strict guidelines tied to the use of NSLs," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Mr. Nadler and Mr. Flake should be applauded for taking this legislative step. Their bill will realign the current NSL authority with the Constitution. Congress must take this opportunity to rein in the power of the NSL."

NSLs were originally crafted to gain information about suspected terrorists but the Patriot Act expanded the statute to allow the subpoenas, which are issued in secrecy, do not require court review, and contain a gag order, to be used to obtain personal information about people who are simply deemed "relevant" to an investigation. After the statute's expansion, the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General released a series of reports over the last several years outlining systemic misuse and abuse of NSLs by FBI agents.

The ACLU is asking that Congress repeal the expanded NSL authorities that allow the FBI to demand information about innocent people who are not the targets of any investigation and reinstate prior standards limiting NSLs to information about terrorism suspects and other agents of foreign powers. In December of 2008, as a result of an ACLU lawsuit, the gag order provision was struck down as unconstitutional. The ACLU is now advocating that Congress legislate a constitutional alternative. The National Security Letters Reform Act of 2009 would make these necessary changes.

Earlier this month, the ACLU released a report entitled "Reclaiming Patriotism" that describes the widespread abuses that have occurred under the USA Patriot Act. The report, authored by policy counsel Michael German and Richardson, was delivered to congressional offices on Capitol Hill, as well as posted to the newly re-launched site www.reformthepatriotact.org in anticipation of the upcoming congressional debate surrounding three Patriot Act provisions due to expire on December 31, 2009.

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