On The Front Lines
TRI Voices Concern Over Proposed Patriot Act II Amendment
Senate to Vote on Expanded Anti-Terrorism Legislation, Tacked onto 9/11 Commission BillWASHINGTON, DC--The Rutherford Institute, along with other concerned organizations, has signed on to a letter to members of the U.S. Senate expressing concern over an amendment to the National Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, the bill that is currently on the Senate floor to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The amendment, No. 3724, a bill introduced by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) earlier this year as S. 2679, the "Tools to Fight Terrorism Act," contains the largest expansion of federal powers since the USA PATRIOT Act and covers issues that are far beyond the scope of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations--issues that the coalition of concerned organizations feels should be debated next year during the debate on the Patriot Act.
"It is essential that the 9/11 Commission legislation not become a vehicle for Patriot Act II," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "As the 9/11 Commission explained, we need 'a full and informed debate on the Patriot Act.' The Act raises serious constitutional concerns. Thus, we should not be further expanding government power without first fully evaluating the powers Congress has already granted."
According to the letter signed by Whitehead, the proposed Kyl amendment would remove critical checks and balances from the government's powers in a host of areas. If passed, the amendment would enhance the government's surveillance powers by, for example, further weakening Americans' privacy rights relating to sensitive library, medical and other personal records by allowing federal law enforcement officials to obtain such records with a mere administrative subpoena--with no court order or other safeguards. The amendment would also, among other things, allow for the secret use of secret evidence derived from intelligence intercepts and searches in immigration cases, and in any criminal case would compel the judge to hear, in secret, government requests for permission to delete classified information from documents to be provided to the defense. "Not only is this bad policy, it is also arguably unconstitutional," declared the coalition of organizations in their letter to the Senate. This week, a federal court struck down a similar expansion of power in the USA Patriot Act that applied to telephone and Internet service provider records.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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