Bachmann defends vote for Patriot Act after fielding complaints about government over-reach

By Pete Kasperowicz - 05/26/11 08:30 PM ET

Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Thursday night spent five minutes on the House floor in an attempt to justify her vote for the Patriot Act, after admitting to receiving significant feedback from her supporters urging her to reject it.

"We have had calls, we've had requests on our Facebook, Twitter and on our email urging a 'no' vote tonight on the Patriot Act," she said on the floor. "I cast a yes vote on this act."

Bachmann listed several reasons for her yes vote on the bill, which extended lone wolf surveillance, roving wire taps and access to business records until mid-2015.

"We have a new war, a new enemy, new tactics," she said. "The lone wolf is one actor acting alone, and we get a tip, and maybe at the last minute we've gotta go in for national security reasons and find that actor. That is an appropriate use of gaining this intelligence and information."

On roving wiretaps, she said intelligence authorities need the flexibility to tap various phones that suspects might be using. "So we have to have the ability to be able to go to whichever phone a potential, alleged terrorist may be using," she said.

On access to business records, she assured listeners that federal agents must go to judges first, and that the documents sought must have a connection to terrorism. She said she would never support a provision that allows unchecked access to personal records, and said she spent "all week" talking to experts on this issue before voting for it.

"I think government is too big," she said. "I think we intervene too much in people's lives. I certainly don't want to give the government the unfettered right to go on in and access my personal private records."

Bachmann closed by inviting listeners to visit her websites to learn more about her vote in favor of the Patriot Act.

"Go to my Facebook site," she said. "We have all of the documents up to verify and show all of the reasoning behind the Patriot Act."

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) opened the one-hour special order speech, and introduced Bachmann after about five minutes. King later introduced Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), who also spent time justifying his vote for the Patriot Act.