Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech
Bump and Update: Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Larry Craig (R-ID)respond to Bush's speech on the Patriot Act (received by e-mail):
We voted for the PATRIOT Act and agree with President Bush that it should be reauthorized. But we must strike a careful balance -- improving our nation’s security while also protecting individual Americans’ liberties.”
“Congress should revise the PATRIOT Act to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens while preserving the powers law enforcement needs to fight terrorism. The Craig-Durbin Security and Freedom Enhancement (SAFE) Act would accomplish this goal. It is a narrowly-tailored bipartisan bill that would revise several provisions of the PATRIOT Act. The SAFE Act would not repeal a single provision of the PATRIOT Act. It would retain all of the additional authorities created by the PATRIOT Act but place important limits on these authorities.”
“We are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but we have come together to safeguard the civil liberties that every American values. We want to mend the PATRIOT Act, not end it. The great challenge of our age is combating terrorism while remaining true to our Constitution. The SAFE Act will help us to meet that challenge.”
Update: The ACLU responds:
"The president repeated the claim that there have been no reported abuses of the Patriot Act. Brandon Mayfield would certainly disagree. His wrongful arrest based on faulty police work and the secret search of his home and DNA is but one example - given the government's refusal to disclose how key parts of the Patriot Act is being used as well as the permanent gag orders in the act, it remains highly likely that many more abuses remain out there. Also the president acknowledged that the Civil Liberties Oversight Board, the very mechanism designed to track any abuses of the Patriot Act, remains unfilled and unfunded. It's no surprise that the administration hasn't admitted any abuses."
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Original Post:
President Bush today credited the Patriot Act with convicting more than 200 terrorists:
Bush urged lawmakers to disregard what he called "unfair criticisms of this important good law." He said the Patriot Act has been used to bring charges against more than 400 suspects, and more than half have been convicted. He also said it has been used to break up terrorist cells in New York, Oregon, Virginia and Florida. "For the state of our national security, Congress must not rebuild a wall between law enforcement and intelligence," he said to an audience that included roughly 100 uniformed state troopers at the Ohio Patrol Training Academy.
The ACLU insists the law can violate civil liberties and needs to be amended.
Lisa Graves, the American Civil Liberties Union's senior counsel for legislative strategy, said the lack of a documented case of abuse doesn't mean the law doesn't violate civil liberties. She said the Justice Department's inspector general reported that 7,000 people have complained of abuse and countless others don't even know they've been subjected to a search because the law requires that the searches be kept secret.
"The real problem is that these record searches take place behind closed doors and are kept secret forever," she said. Graves said the ACLU wants the government to show evidence of a connection.
It's time for the Safe Act. Check out the Progressive Patriot's Fund.
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