FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media@dcaclu.org
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today said
that it would continue to fight for common-sense reforms to the Patriot Act in
the wake of the move by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner
(R-WI) to shorten the extension, passed by unanimous consent in the Senate, from
six months to one month. A bipartisan majority in the Senate, with 52 Senators
signing a letter calling for an extension earlier this week, supported the
six-month extension but the critical issue is not the length of the extension
but whether needed checks and balances will be added to the law. The Senate is
expected to meet later tonight to consider the new sunset date.
The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson,
Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:
"Regardless of the length of the extension into next year, the
most important issue is the need to reform the secret powers expanded by the
Patriot Act to protect the privacy and liberty of ordinary Americans. A
bipartisan majority of the Senate already agrees that the conference report that
the House and the White House are pushing does not protect our most fundamental
constitutional rights.
"We invite Chairman Sensenbrenner and other Members of Congress
to begin the new year with a renewed focus on American’s privacy, especially in
the wake of revelations that the administration has bypassed the law to engage
in warrantless wiretapping of Americans without any independent oversight by the
FISA court. Congress's New Year's Resolution must be to build safeguards into
the Patriot Act that help preserve the promises of our Constitution. We welcome
the opportunity for Congress to immediately address the civil liberties issues
that have been raised by the Bush Administration’s selective use and violation
of the very powers expanded by the Patriot Act.
"People of good faith can resolve these issues to ensure that
America remains both safe and free. We urge lawmakers to pay close
attention to the Patriot Act extension in January to ensure that any safeguards
added to the bill are not merely window dressing. A longer extension might have
permitted more time for lawmakers to continue discussing reforms to the Patriot
Act but the short-deadline may help focus this discussion on the need for real
reforms to protect the privacy and freedoms of innocent Americans."
For more on the ACLU’s concerns with the Patriot Act, go
to:
http://www.reformthepatriotact.org
