FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media@dcaclu.org
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today called on Senators to
reject a compromise agreement on legislation to reauthorize the Patriot Act and
urged that body to vote against a motion for cloture. Concerns about the lack of
substantive reforms to the anti-terrorism law have come from an unusual set of
allies, including former Republican Congressman Bob Barr, the American
Conservative Union, librarians and other moderate organizations.
"The Senate must stand true to its role as the ‘saucer that cools the tea,’
and reject pressures to hastily pass a faulty bill," said Caroline Fredrickson,
Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Thankfully, some lawmakers,
Republicans and Democrats alike, recognize that the current bill is unacceptable
and will vote against cloture. We hope others will join them; the American
people, our freedoms and privacy, and our Constitution deserve nothing
less."
The ACLU issued its call to Congress today as Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI)
and John Sununu (R-NH) and members of Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances
gathered to voice their objections to the conference report. Barr, chair of
Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances and representatives from the Association
of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Gun Owners of America and the Free
Congress Foundation joined the ACLU. Other organizations, including the American
Librarian Association, have voiced their opposition to the conference
report.
The ACLU noted that the conference report fails to require individualized
suspicion before people's financial, medical or library records can be gathered
by the FBI, as unanimously adopted by the Senate.
For example, Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the "business records"
provision, expanded the FBI's ability to obtain a secret order for "any tangible
thing," without showing any facts connecting the records to a suspected
terrorist. Under this power, law enforcement could use that power to engage in
fishing expeditions into the private information of innocent Americans. The
Senate bill required a connection between the records sought and suspected
terrorist or terrorist organization. However, the conference report did not
include that modest fix; it also failed to take steps to correct the National
Security Letter authority, which was vastly expanded by Section 505 of the act.
"Congress must not let a fake threat by proponents of Patriot Act to let it
expire to cause them to support a defective bill," said Lisa Graves, ACLU Senior
Counsel for Legislative Strategy. "Common sense corrections that would better
focus limited resources and protect the privacy of innocent Americans already
enjoy strong bipartisan support. Lawmakers should adopt them."
To read the ACLU’s letter to Congress on the conference report,
go to:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/22394leg20051207.html
