Fourth Amendment

Floor Speech

Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, in the run-up to the American Revolution, American colonialists were concerned over the English Government's use of general warrants--giving British authorities the right to enter into private homes or businesses without evidence of wrongdoing--to search for and seize anything they considered contraband under English laws and taxation. This led to the Founding Fathers including this in the United States Constitution:

Amendment IV. The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall be issued but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

That is why this debate over NSA programs is so important. Americans should be secure in their private papers--electronic or otherwise--against unreasonable searches and seizures.

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