Dear Friend:
Last week, the House passed legislation to permanently extend several provisions of the PATRIOT Act by a vote of 257-171. I voted NO. The Act was first passed just after September 11 and many of the provisions in the Act were so controversial they will expire on December 31 of this year unless Congress chooses to extend them.
I objected to numerous aspects of the bill the House passed today. Specifically, the U.S. government will permanently be allowed to search your home and not even tell you (Sec. 213); collect information about what you read, what you buy, your hotel visits, and your medical history (Sec. 215); track your e-mail and web usage (Sec. 212); and listen in on phone conversations without any proof that a terrorist is using the phone (Sec. 206).
The PATRIOT Act is designed like a DUI checkpoint: make everyone feel like a criminal and prove his or her innocence in the off chance that a drunk driver will inadvertently drive through. Subjecting 300 million Americans to the egregious provisions of the PATRIOT Act only threatens the very liberties we’re supposedly defending. In the last three years, the Patriot Act has been used to:
- Detain and prosecute Sami al-Hussayen, a Muslim student in Idaho, for providing “material support” to terrorists because he posted links to objectionable materials on a website, even though the same links were available on the websites of a major news outlet.
- Deny, on account of his political beliefs, admission to the United States of Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss national and prominent moderate Muslim scholar who was to assume a teaching position at Notre Dame University.
- Charge David Banach of Parsippany, New Jersey under the Patriot Act for shining a laser beam on an airplane using a hand-held device. Banach faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, even though the FBI admitted that the incident had no connection to terrorism. Banach was using the device to look at stars with his seven year-old daughter.
Our nation would be better served by providing health insurance to 45 million uninsured Americans, educating our children so they can compete in a global economy, and promoting religious tolerance and strong civil rights. The goal of this country should be to create a healthy, educated and tolerant environment, not to limit people's constitutional rights.
I voted against the PATRIOT ACT when it was passed amidst the terror-infused environment after 9/11 and I voted against the bill again, today. Following today’s House action, the Senate will consider their version of the PATRIOT Act this fall. Once the Senate passes its bill, the House and Senate versions will be reconciled and the President will sign the bill into law. Before that happens, I will continue to work with like-minded individuals on both sides of the aisle to protect our civil liberties.
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