American Civil Liberties Union : ACLU Letter to the House of Representatives in Support of the Maloney/Shays/Udall Amendment

There has never been a more urgent need to preserve fundamental privacy protections and our system of checks and balances than the need we face today, as illegal government spying, provisions of the Patriot Act and government-sponsored torture programs transcend the bounds of law and our most treasured values in the name of national security.

ACLU Letter to the House of Representatives in Support of the Maloney/Shays/Udall Amendment (6/29/2005)

RE: Support Funding for the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board by Voting for the Maloney/Shays/Udall Amendment to FY06 Transportation, Treasury and Housing Appropriations

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and its more than 400,000 members, we urge you to support more funding for the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB) by voting for the Maloney/Shays/Udall amendment to Transportation, Treasury and Housing Appropriations.

The PCLOB was created by last year's Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act in response to the bipartisan 9-11 Commission's recommendation to create a board within the executive branch to oversee adherence to guidelines for protecting privacy and civil liberties.[1] Such a board was also proposed by the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, chaired by former Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore III.[2]

This important board must be fully funded to fulfill its mission. The President's budget includes only $750,000 in appropriations for the PCLOB, out of the $53 million budget request for Transportation, Treasury and Housing. The Maloney/Shays/Udall amendment would earmark $3 million in initial funding for the PCLOB, which is the same amount as initially allocated to fund the 9-11 Commission. We support this modest step in the right direction to help make the PCLOB an effective instrument in protecting our privacy and liberty. We urge you to demonstrate your commitment to protecting our civil liberties by supporting this amendment today. Thank you for considering our views.

Sincerely,

Gregory T. Nojeim
Acting Director
Washington Legislative Office

Lisa Graves
Senior Counsel for Legislative Strategies

Footnotes

[1] U.S. National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, pp. 394-395.
[2] U.S. Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, V. Forging America's New Normalcy: Securing Our Homeland, Preserving Our Liberty, pp. 22-23.

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