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Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech

By Jeralyn, Section Legislation
Posted on Thu Jun 09, 2005 at 02:29:04 PM EST
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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."

***********
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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    Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech | 25 comments (25 topical)
    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#1)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:52 PM EST
    How many of those prosecutions were terrorists? I recall a debate here months ago that not one terrorist had been convicted as a result of the patriot act. Isn't that what it was designed for or is it to prosecute prostitution rings and the like?

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:52 PM EST
    Calling the patriot act a "good law" is all I need to hear to know Bush is a tyrant intent on destroying the ideals of our republic. Call it a necessary law, I don't believe it is, but necessary is a lot better than good. How can destroying the ideals of individual freedom and protection from govt. tyranny be good? For a man supposedly intent spreading freedom throughout the world, maybe he should look up the definition of the word first.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#3)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:52 PM EST
    The law officially titled "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" also known as the USA Patriot Act 2001 was enacted six weeks after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:52 PM EST
    Does Bush really think that a 50% conviction rate is cause for prosecutorial bragging?

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:52 PM EST
    Federal prosecutors used the act in June to file a charge of "terrorism using a weapon of mass destruction" against a California man after a pipe bomb exploded in his lap, wounding him as he sat in his car. A North Carolina county prosecutor charged a man accused of running a methamphetamine lab with breaking a new state law barring the manufacture of chemical weapons. If convicted, Martin Dwayne Miller could get 12 years to life in prison for a crime that usually brings about six months In one instance, agents citing the new law seized $1.7 million from United States bank accounts that were linked to a former Illinois investor who fled to Belize after he was accused of bilking clients out of millions, federal officials said.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#6)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:53 PM EST
    People, its not about terrorists its about control over you. the act will be used against millions of innocent people but it will take 20 more years before its real reason is understood. I am happy i am old, I would not want to live inside the empire in 20 or 30 years. the patriot act is a political act of dismantling this non nation for good. No Yes, I think I will go to L.A., With a Flag, in fact the U.S., Flag and yell-out "long live the USA, And to hell with mexican, and watch what will happens, if i live? the attacks by people from other places, i would be arrested for terrorism, and the system would send me to mexico for questioning the old way. think of me as a terrorists, against mexico and watch me!..love it.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:53 PM EST
    I keep looking for those rights that are vanishing but can't find them. what am I afraid of again..

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:53 PM EST
    Ed....Warrantless searches, warantless wiretaps, sneak and peek, indefinite detention.....Where you been, under a rock? Freedom may not mean much to you, but others,including myself, cherish it more than life itself. You are either with freedom or against it. The passing of the Patriot Act was a great victory for the enemies of freedom.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#9)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:53 PM EST
    No reported abuses of the Act. Wow! But then it's tough to report anything from Gitmo.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:53 PM EST
    and yet here we are debating/hopefully we aren't being monitored by the G. In the old days, intelligence couldn't be shared a la Gorelick's memorandum. Now it can-sounds good to me. I want law enforcement to be aggressive and not wait around for the next terrorist act. My guess is most would agree.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#11)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    Hey Ed, Check-out patriot act, HR 3162 sec.371,sec.359,sec,360, and sec.213, all can put you in prison, for non crimes. bush is not your friend and he wants you and your family inside the third world with no rights, remember mexico has the best constitution in the world, but its the laws of evil that rule in mexico and its been a Marxist state for 80 years, and that is what the evil patriot act will do to you and in time you will become a mexican living under evil.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    tell me more about these warrantless searches and sections where 4th Amendment repealed. I think you are getting your thinking from press releases of ACLU. To use Brandon Mayfield as an example, given that he is walking around today free, ranks up there with the Gulag example.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#13)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    "To use Brandon Mayfield as an example, given that he is walking around today free,"
    OK, so they broke into his house, took pictures of all his belongings, seized three computer hard drives, threw him in jail for two weeks, and publicly accused him of being a terrorist. He's free now. See? The system works!

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#14)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    Quit lying about the Gorelick memo. Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in '78 which established a secret intelligence court and relaxed the standard Fourth Amendment rule requiring "probable cause" when the government sought search warrants for the "primary purpose" of gathering foreign intelligence. But prosecutors kept abusing the FISA law, swearing something was intelligence related when it was only a criminal enterprise. So the government built a wall to keep criminal and intelligence investigations separate. Gorelick didn't build the wall, but she had to clarify it for her staff. Gorelick's memo was about specific cases and was written for the purpose of making sure that the case wouldn't be thrown out of court on a technicality. She codified the way that both criminal and terrorism charges could be successfully and legally combined. Besides, if Ashcroft didn't like a memo by his predecessor, he could have changed it. So stop lying about the Gorelick memo.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    The 4th states that "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Probable cause, or even wishful thinking, is no longer required. And BTW, ask rush drugbaugh how he feels about the ACLU now.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    "We voted for the PATRIOT Act and agree with President Bush that it should be reauthorized."
    And I'm not supposed to be angry with the Democrats?

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    I cannot believe it. DURBIN is going to vote to reauthorize this horrible act? He is one of my Senators and I will email him now. If even he votes for this we are doomed.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#18)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    Last time I saw federal conviction rates, they were well over 90%. 50% is terrible for federal persecutors. Good thing that we gave up our rights for this. 50-50? Why dont we just flip a coin? Oneworld- I agree, what ever happened to real liberals?

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#19)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    Forget real liberals, whatever happened to real Americans?

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#20)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:54 PM EST
    K- I think that most of them hang out here ;-)

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#21)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:55 PM EST
    Not enough of us left Rog.
    The great challenge of our age is combating terrorism while remaining true to our Constitution
    I believe it is infinitely more important to remain true to the Constitution/Bill of Rights. This takes patience, resolve and courage. I fear there aren't enough of us up to the task, it's more convenient for the weak at heart to disregard the Constitution.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:55 PM EST
    no part of the Patriot Act says no warrants or repeals the Fourth Amendment. Would you expect to leave a warrant return in the home of someone being investigated on terrorism grounds? If so, don't expect his to stick around for the arrest. If that is what is expected, I'll stick to being weak at heart.

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#23)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:55 PM EST
    Would you expect to leave a warrant return in the home of someone being investigated on terrorism grounds?
    Yes I would. Or did 9/11 change the fact that we are all innocent until proven guilty, along with "everything"?

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#24)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:55 PM EST
    “no part of the Patriot Act says no warrants or repeals the Fourth Amendment.” Before the Patriot Act US intelligence agencies had the ability to request delayed notification warrants for foreign intelligence and terrorism investigations. The Patriot Act provides for delayed notification warrants for any federal crime. Perhaps on paper I still have Fourth Amendment protection, but in practice I cannot assert my protection from unreasonable search when I am informed of the search after the fact. How do I challenge the accuracy of a search I may never know was conducted?

    Re: Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:00 PM EST
    "Yes I would. Or did 9/11 change the fact that we are all innocent until proven guilty, along with "everything"?
    " everytime you try to board a commercial plane you are presumed to be guilty of being a threat until you are proven innocent by TSA. the 4th amendment hasn't worked at airports for awhile.

    Senators Respond to Bush's Patriot Act Speech | 25 comments (25 topical)