FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media@dcaclu.org
WASHINGTON - With a vote to reauthorize the expiring provisions of the
Patriot Act all but certain, the American Civil Liberties Union today pledged to
continue to work with its bipartisan allies - from across the political spectrum
- to reform the anti-terrorism law passed in haste immediately after 9/11. The
Senate is expected to renew the Patriot Act without making the most needed
changes to protect freedom and privacy, after passing a related bill that would
make a few changes to the conference report passed by the House last December.
"The Patriot Act debate is far from over, and we will continue to fight for
reforms to protect civil liberties," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the
ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "While Congress failed to adopt much-needed
reforms to the law to better protect freedom and privacy, lawmakers also
rejected pressure from the White House to include significant and unwarranted
expansions of government power. We applaud those fair-minded lawmakers that have
fought to bring the law in line with the Constitution, and together, we will
continue to push for reforms to keep America safe and free."
A year ago this week, President Bush called on Congress to quickly make the
Patriot Act's expiring provisions permanent and add new provisions that further
undermine our civil liberties. The ACLU- through its affiliates, members, and
activists - worked to ensure there would not be a repeat of 2001 when secret
search powers were greatly expanded at the president's request with little
public or congressional debate. Through these efforts with allies from the right
and left, the ACLU supported civil libertarians in Congress from both sides of
the aisle in achieving a success that many people thought was impossible when
the Patriot Act passed just four years ago and last year, especially with the
public relations campaign for reauthorization orchestrated by the White
House.
Through these efforts, the national conversation has changed from simply
acquiescing to whatever the president wants to how we can better protect the
civil liberties of ordinary Americans while fixing anti-terrorism tools. At the
end of 2004, almost 300 percent more House Members voted against the flawed
reauthorization legislation than in 2001 and a bipartisan group of 52 Senators
joined together to oppose passing that legislation without more time to debate
it and try to fix it to address the concerns that have been raised.
The current reauthorization bill would make explicit the right to counsel
and the right to challenge an order under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, but
does not expressly provide a right to challenge an order for being unreasonable
or trampling on privileged communications between attorneys and their clients
or doctors and their patients. Many other Patriot Act powers would remain in
the law, without key modifications. The ACLU continues to be concerned about
the lack of changes to the "sneak and peek" search warrant power - the vast
majority of which are being used in routine criminal investigations - and other
provisions.
The ACLU noted that in the four years since the Patriot Act's passage, public
opinion has shifted in the national debate over the Patriot Act. More than
400 communities nationwide, including seven states, have passed pro-civil liberties
resolutions calling for meaningful changes to be made to the Patriot Act. Lawmakers
flatly rejected the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act," the so-called
"Patriot Act 2,"as well as the unwarranted proposals by the administration last
year to create vastly expanded FBI subpoena powers without any court approval
at all.
"As disappointing as the deal to end the current debate on the Patriot Act
is, we are heartened that lawmakers, from both sides of the aisle, have pledged
to continue to push for meaningful Patriot Act reforms," said Lisa Graves, ACLU
Senior Counsel for Legislative Strategy. "True patriotism means standing up for
the protections enshrined in the Constitution, no matter who is president. The
White House's take it or leave it approach to this legislation is disrespectful
to the millions of Americans who want this legislation fixed with common sense
reforms. We will continue to fight for these reforms. And we will ultimately
prevail."
To read the ACLU's letter to the Senate on the Patriot Act
reauthorization bill, go to:
www.aclu.org/safefree/general/24170leg20060215.html
For more on the ACLU's concerns with the Patriot Act, go
to:
www.reformthepatriotact.org
