CJ Grover, the press secretary for Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-Kansas) provided
this statement to KOIN 6 News on the Email Privacy Act:
The Congressman has been exploring all avenues to get the Email Privacy Act
passed and signed into law. A few weeks ago, he went before the Rules Committee
to try and get it considered as an amendment to the cybersecurity bills that were
passed by the House. Unfortunately, the committee ruled his amendment out of
order, but several members echoed their support for the bill and urged the House to
consider it as a stand-alone or amendment to another piece of legislation. Feel free
to use any of the video footage here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Bu_xTo66wJM
We are considering taking a similar approach in advance of the consideration of the
USA Freedom Act, the Patriot Act reauthorization bill. It should be up for
consideration in the House either this week or next week. If the Rules Committee
again rules the amendment out of order, we will continue to press on in trying to
find ways to get the bill considered by the House, as it has more than a majority of
members cosponsoring. Should it get to the floor, it would almost certainly pass.
CJ Grover
Press Secretary
Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-KS)
---Statement from Congressman Earl Blumenauer:
“I think Congress and the public are still grappling with how best to mesh our
privacy laws with our rapidly growing digital footprints in the wake of the NSA
disclosures.
“As we have seen with the PATRIOT Act, and with the Email Privacy Act, many in the
security community are willing to overlook civil liberties protections in the pursuit of
national security. For me, these two goals are not mutually exclusive. We are fully
capable of keeping this country safe without sacrificing our right to privacy.
“That is why I voted against the PATRIOT Act when it first came to the floor in 2001
and have voted against every reauthorization since. Yesterday was no exception. It’s
also why I support the Email Privacy Act.
“Like so many issues, Congress has been slow to act on these reforms. On an issue
as critical as these, however, the proponents of the status quo will ultimately end up
on the wrong side of history and on the losing end of the debate. This issue is ripe
for action this Congress, and I strongly believe it’s just a matter of when, not if.”
--Statement from Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR-04) on email privacy and the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act

 “I have always been a staunch defender of privacy rights. That’s why it only made
sense to cosponsor the Email Privacy Act. Your email is yours and yours alone. The
government should unequivocally be required to obtain a warrant before accessing
your personal email – no matter how old it is. There shouldn’t be a statute of
limitations on your privacy rights. While the bill has broad bipartisan support,
ultimately it is up to the Republican leadership to bring the bill forward for
consideration.
“I voted against the Patriot Act and its extension in 2008 and 2011 because I feared
it gave the federal government too much unchecked power over the rights of law
abiding citizens and lacked effective oversight tools for Congress. Clearly I was
proven right. Thankfully, a federal appeals court ruled that the NSA’s program to
collect telephone records in bulk is illegal. But this is not the end of the fight. I
support robust reforms to the Patriot Act and the secret FISA court.
“I also voted against recent cybersecurity legislation – the Protecting Cyber
Networks Act – because it created an expansive new means of government
surveillance in the name of cybersecurity and law enforcement. The bill would
provide blanket legal immunity for companies that shared cyber threat information
with other companies and the federal government. At the same time, it would make
it very difficult for consumers to challenge wrongful information sharing in court,
while doing nothing to hold companies liable for taking action when they receive
warnings of cyber threats.
“There’s no doubt that law enforcement officials need to be able to assess, detect,
and prevent cyber threats and terrorist attacks. However, I don't believe we have to
shred the Constitution and Bill of Rights in order to do so.”