Booksellers Savor Sweet Smell of Sanders' Success

Just a week after Rep. Bernie Sanders' Freedom to Read Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) Appropriations Bill passed a House vote, Jack Buckley of Ninth Street Book Store in Wilmington, Delaware, recalled first speaking to his congressional representative, Mike Castle (R-DE), about amending Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The conversation occurred a few years ago, around the time when Congressman Sanders (I-VT), along with booksellers and librarians, first began rallying support to amend the provision. "[Castle] said he would never, never vote for [amending Section 215]," Buckley remembered. "He said, It'll never go through, so just forget about it."

But Buckley, who is a participant in the Campaign for Reader Privacy (CRP) petition drive, didn't forget about it. Like so many other booksellers around the country, he kept working at changing his representative's mind.

And "son of a gun, [Castle] turned around!" Buckley said. "Our guy came through."

On Wednesday, June 15, Castle was one of 38 Republicans who were not dissuaded by threats of a presidential veto and who voted for Sanders' Freedom to Read Amendment to the appropriations bill. Overall, the amendment passed decisively by a count of 238 - 187, sending a clear message to the Bush administration that Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act needs to be amended to protect Americans' right to privacy. The amendment, which was co-sponsored by Reps. Butch Otter (R-ID), John Conyers (D-MI), Ron Paul (R-TX), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Tom Udall (D-CO), cuts Justice Department funds for bookstore and library searches under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act.

Booksellers who spoke to BTW said that, while the vote is but one victory in the battle to amend Section 215 as congressional leaders seek to reauthorize and potentially expand the provision, they also realize the significance and potential ramifications of last Wednesday's vote. "This took time ... but we kept at it and kept at it," Buckley said. "And I have to give [Castle] credit" for crossing from his side of the political aisle.

Peter Schertz of Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colorado, said that he had been staying in touch with his congressman's local office regarding Section 215 since his representative, John Salazar (D-CO), was elected in November. Apparently, Schertz's efforts made an impression because, following Wednesday's vote, he received a personal phone call from Salazar thanking Maria's Bookshop for its efforts. "I'm sending him a thanks," Schertz said, and added that the experience has "been uplifting for our staff and our whole community. Finally, a positive step in the whole process."

For her part, Carol Chittenden of Eight Cousins bookstore in Falmouth, Massachusetts, said she wasn't surprised at last week's vote and said she would have been disappointed if the amendment didn't pass. "Let's keep it going," she said.

Schertz said he was appreciative of ABA's efforts. "I can't say enough about ABA guiding this effort and keeping us informed on how to participate."

Chittenden echoed Schertz's sentiments and said she appreciated the e-mail communications regarding CRP and the efforts to amend 215, as well as how easy ABA made it for booksellers to contact their congressional representatives via e-mail. Overall, the e-mail alerts "made it easy and made it immediate."

However, ABA COO Oren Teicher stressed that the fight to amend Section 215 is not over. The battle will now shift to the U.S. Senate and to the long-term reauthorization of the provisions of the Patriot Act that expire at the end of the year (including Section 215). Markup sessions in both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees are expected within the next few weeks.

To keep the momentum of the free expression victory going, Teicher urged Campaign for Reader Privacy supporters to:

• Keep collecting signatures on the petitions. And to keep in mind that, as of June 27, all signed petitions should be sent to ABA's new address: ABA, Restore Reader Privacy, Attn.: Oren Teicher, 200 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591.
  
  
• Go to http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll258.xml to see how their member of Congress voted. If the vote was "aye," send a short fax or e-mail of thanks today, saying something along these lines: "On behalf of _____ (the name of the store and its location), we want to thank you very much for supporting Rep. Sanders' amendment to the Patriot Act on June 15. We -- and America's readers -- really appreciate your vote." (Teicher noted, "It is particularly important to do this if your member of Congress happens to be one of the 38 Republicans who voted in favor of the amendment.")
  
  
• Send an e-mail today to Rep. Sanders to thank him for his efforts. (The e-mail may be sent in care of Sanders' legislative assistant, Rebecca Raiser, who helped shepherd this effort, [email protected].)

For more information about the Campaign for Reader Privacy, go to http://www.bookweb.org/read/7679. --David Grogan