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Contact: Aaron Groen
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9/11 bill to give legal protections to Americans who report suspicious activity

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx today praised an agreement reached last night that will protect Americans who report suspicious activity to authorities. The agreement, which will be included in a bill that implements recommendations of the 9/11 Commission (H.R. 1), will provide legal protection for Americans who report suspicious-looking activities to authorities.

“Average Americans are one of our best defenses against terrorism,” Rep. Foxx said. “No one should be afraid of reporting something that looks suspicious simply because he or she does not want to be sued.”

The issue of protecting tipsters arose after a number of “John Doe” defendants were recently sued for reporting the suspicious behavior of fellow passengers on a flight last November. The passengers, a group of Muslim Imams, were removed from the flight.

“Protecting the people who are doing their civic duty to report suspicious activity to the authorities is just plain common sense,” Foxx said. “Unfortunately, not everyone in Washington thought so and my Republican colleagues had to fight to convince many Democrats of the need to protect terror tipsters.”

These sorts of protections have overwhelming bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. On March 27, in a 304-122 vote, the House approved a Republican amendment to protect citizens from liability for reporting suspicious activity. Republicans unanimously voted for the amendment, with 199 “yes” votes. One hundred five Democrats voted “yes,” with 122 Democrats voting “no.”

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