WASHINGTON – First District Congressman Paul Ryan today voted in favor of legislation that provides for increased penalties for federal terrorism offenses and brings federal laws up-to-date so that U.S. law-enforcement can more effectively detect terrorists, counteract their plots, and bring them to justice. The U.S. House of Representatives passed this legislation – H.R. 2975 – by a vote of 337-79.

"As the President has said, we will direct every resource at our command in order to fight and win the war on terrorism. One part of this many-tiered fight is making sure our law enforcement officers are not put at a disadvantage because certain laws haven't kept up with today's technology," Ryan said.

"The bill we passed today contains common-sense changes that will help us defeat terrorism on the home front. At the same time, it strikes a vital balance between strengthening the hand of law enforcement to crack down on terrorists and protecting the individual rights and liberties on which the United States was built," Ryan said.

"The terrorists we are up against are ultimately parasites," Ryan said. "On September 11th, they used our own technology – our airplanes – to strike at us. In recent weeks, they have tried to use our media to communicate their message of hate, and until now, they have used our outdated laws to thwart us. Today's legislation will make it much harder for them to exploit our legal system."

"This essentially gives U.S. law enforcement the same tools for fighting terrorism as they have in fighting organized crime," Ryan said.
 
Among its provisions, the House bill:

• Increases penalties for federal terrorism offenses, eliminating the statute of limitations;
• Modernizes wiretapping and surveillance laws that apply to terrorist investigations in order to keep up with changing technologies such as cell phones, voicemail, and e-mail;
• Permits greater information sharing between law enforcement agencies and intelligence services;
• Enables the government to detain alien individuals who are found to pose a threat to national security for up to seven days, rather than the current time period of two days, before they are charged with a crime.