Dear Member of Congress:
The American Civil Liberties Union is deeply troubled by events of September 11, 2001, and like all Americans wants the perpetrators of those horrible acts brought to justice. We also believe that law enforcement must have the tools it needs to prevent future attacks. That being said, many of the provisions of the House and Senate anti-terrorism bills -- including the Sensenbrenner-Conyers Patriot Act -- continue to go far beyond any powers conceivably necessary to prosecute terrorism in the United States and unnecessarily deny civil liberties in the name of promising greater national security.
Further, we are troubled that the Administration's unrelenting insistence that this legislation be passed immediately makes it almost impossible for the majority of the Congress to understand the implications of pending bills. A coalition of more than 180 national organizations from across the political spectrum shares our concern that Congress is moving too quickly and have joined together to ask that you give any proposed legislation the careful consideration it deserves.
Among the bill's most troubling provisions are measures that would allow for indefinite detention without meaningful judicial review for non-citizens ordered removed from the country and minimize judicial supervision of electronic surveillance by law enforcement authorities. Another troubling provision would expand the already broad definition of terrorism, which could lead to large-scale investigations of American citizens for engaging in civil disobedience.
We have been working tirelessly to work with Republicans and Democrats to reconcile the need for greater security with demands of our nation's Bill of Rights. However, unless the House and Senate Judiciary Committees resolve the significant civil liberties issues that still remain, we will urge all members of Congress to oppose any legislation containing these problems.
Thank you for your consideration of our views as you carefully consider anti-terrorism legislation. You can also see our related position papers on the web at http://archive.aclu.org.
Sincerely,
Laura W. Murphy
Director, ACLU Washington Office
Gregory T. Nojeim
Associate Director & Chief Legislative Counsel