Stop the secret expansion of the patriot act

[Andy_Stephenson]

Next Wednesday, June 16th, the House Intelligence Committee is expected
to
consider expanding the USA PATRIOT Act by slipping portions of the
Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003, HR 3179, into
the
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005. HR 3179 includes the
following provisions from the leaked Justice Department draft of the
Homeland Security Enhancement Act, AKA "Patriot II":
· A "lone wolf" provision that applies the Patriot Act's
surveillance and
investigation provisions to persons acting alone. (The Senate has
already
passed this as a stand-alone bill.)
· Penalties for failure to cooperate with overbroad powers for the
FBI to
issue secret National Security Letters (NSLs) requesting private
information, with no checks and balances
· Secret use of information from NSLs in immigration proceedings,
which
would deny immigrants their fifth and fourteenth amendment protections
from
being "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law."
There is no evidence that the FBI needs these provisions. furthermore,
it
is too early to consider expanding the USA PATRIOT Act. We have not yet
had
adequate congressional oversight of how the government is using the
surveillance provisions of the PATRIOT Act. Some provisions of the
PATRIOT
Act are set to expire at the end of 2005, so Congress will need to review
them next year -- when all of these issues can be publicly debated and
analyzed.
The intelligence authorization bill generally contains many important
provisions, and it must pass every year, so it is difficult for members
of
Congress to vote against it even if it contains some provisions they
oppose.
Therefore, it is critical to stop the inclusion of HR 3179 in committee.

In this e-mail you will find
· Background information
· What you can do
· Links for more information
· Sample phone scripts and e-mail blogs
· Reminder: CLRA introduction Tuesday, June 8
· List of House Intelligence Members by State

Background Information
Last year, Reps. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Porter Goss (R-FL)
introduced HR 3179, a bill that would expand the FBI's ability to obtain
records without a court order and wiretap people without meeting normal
constitutional standards. After various organizations voiced opposition
to
the bill, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on HR 3179 last
month, where former Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) testified against the bill.

After the hearing, it was reported that Rep. Goss, who is the Chair of
the
House Intelligence Committee, was likely to tack the provisions of HR
3179
onto the annual intelligence authorization bill, which his committee
debates
and votes on behind closed doors.

You may recall that last December, another section from Patriot II, which
expanded the FBI's ability to use secret National Security Letters, was
tacked on to the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2004 without the
knowledge of most members of Congress. It was passed, and President Bush
signed the bill on Saturday, December 13, the day of Saddam Hussein's
capture by U.S. forces in Iraq. Texas Congressman Ron Paul called the
tactic "a stealth enactment of the enormously unpopular 'Patriot II'
legislation."

To stop this stealth tactic from being reused, the grassroots must show
its
strength and resolve to protect and restore our civil liberties.

What You Can Do
If you oppose this bill and the undemocratic process of, please call your
House of Representatives member during a National Call-In Week to Protect
Civil Liberties. Tell your Rep. that you oppose expanding the PATRIOT Act
and do not want the House Intelligence Committee to tack provisions of HR
3179 onto the intelligence authorization bill. (See sample phone scripts
below) To obtain the phone number for your Representative, call the
Congressional Switchboard at 202-225-3121 or visit
<http://www.congress.org/>.

If your Representative is on the House Intelligence Committee (see list
at
bottom of this message), it is especially important that you voice your
opposition to this bill and forward this alert to other constituents of the committee member.

Links for More Information
· HR 3179's Bill Text, Summary, and Status:
<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.03179>:
· Conservative Opposition to the Bill at:
<http://www.spectator.org/util/print.asp?art_id=6644>
· Bob Barr's full testimony before the House Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security's hearing on HR
3179, which was held on May 18th:
<http://www.aclu.org/news/NewsPrint.cfm?ID=15778&c=206>

Sample Phone Scripts and E-mail Blogs
Sample Script for Constituents in Intelligence Committee Members'
Districts

Call your Representative's office and ask for the staff person who
handles
Intelligence Committee issues.

Hi, this is from . I am calling to urge
Representative to oppose HR 3179, and in particular to oppose
including the provisions of HR 3179 in the intelligence authorization
bill.
HR 3179 would expand the PATRIOT Act, and I do not think those important
issues should be decided behind closed doors. Congress must take up the
PATRIOT Act next year when it reviews the sunset provisions, and all of
these issues should be publicly debated next year. Please urge
Representative to oppose the provisions of HR 3179 when they
are
considered on June 16th.

Sample Script for Constituents Outside Those Districts

Call your Representative's office and tell the staff person who answers
the
phone:

Hi, this is from . I am calling to urge
Representative to oppose HR 3179. I understand that the
House
Intelligence Committee may tack the entire bill onto the Intelligence
Authorization Act for 2005 at a closed markup session on June 16th. I
ask
that Representative contact members of the House Intelligence
Committee and urge them to oppose both HR 3179's provisions and their
inclusion in the authorization bill. HR 3179 would expand the PATRIOT Act
and I do not think those important issues should be decided behind closed
doors. Congress must take up the PATRIOT Act next year when it reviews
the
sunset provisions, and all of these issues should be publicly debated
next year.

Sample E-mail or Blog Message

Please spread the word by telling family, friends, and colleagues to call
their Representatives as well by posting the following message in a blog
or
e-mail:

Legislation is pending in the U.S. House of Representatives to expand the
USA PATRIOT Act -- and there are reports that HR 3179 will get slipped
into
an intelligence agency bill that will be debated and voted on behind
closed
doors on June 16th. Please urge your Representative to oppose this bill,
and to oppose allowing these important issues to be decided without
public
participation. Congress should be adding oversight provisions and
judicial
checks and balances to the PATRIOT Act, not expanding it behind closed
doors. See <http://www.bordc.org/legislation.htm> for more information.

Reminder: CLRA introduction Tuesday, June 8
Thank you to the organizations that have signed on to the Civil Liberties
Restoration Act letter of support. The Rights Working Group now has a
website <http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org>, which includes talking
points
on the act <http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/clratp.pdf>. Please call
your
House Member and Senators and urge them to support the bill.

List of House Intelligence Members by State
State, District Name, Party Telephone
Alabama, 5th Robert E. "Bud" Cramer, D [phone]
Alabama, 2nd Terry Everett, R [phone]
California, 50th Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R [phone]
California, 14th Anne Eshoo, D [phone]
California, 24th Elton Gallegly, R [phone]
California, 36th Jane Harman, D [phone]
Florida, 14th Porter Goss, R [phone]
Florida, 23rd Alcee Hastings, D [phone]
Georgia, 8th Mac Collins, R [phone]
Illinois, 18th Ray LaHood, R [phone]
Iowa, 3rd Leonard Boswell, D [phone]
Maryland, 2nd C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D [phone]
Michigan, 2nd Peter Hoekstra, R [phone]
Minnesota, 7th Collin Peterson, D [phone]
Nebraska, 1st Doug Bereuter, R [phone]
Nevada, 2nd Jim Gibbons, R [phone]
New Jersey, 12th Rush Holt, D [phone]
New York, 24th Sherwood L. Boehlert, R [phone]
North Carolina, 5th Richard Burr, R [phone]
Texas, 16th Silvestre Reyes, D [phone]

We thank you for taking these vital steps to protect your civil rights
and liberties.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wyldwolf]

2. What did we learn from the current application of such?

on edit:

Yeah, this is a set-up question.

[wyldwolf]

5. damn! Tombstoned already! I never get to play with the monkeys!

[Andy_Stephenson]

6. 1 post wonder...

damn the mods are quick this am...and I so did want to taunt him.

[slinkerwink]

3. We do not need to expand the patriot act---doing so infringes on the

Constitution, and our civil rights.

[Andy_Stephenson]

4. You must be kidding or smoking crack!

"those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither"

- Ben Franklin

[IXLNXS]

7. How else?

How else are we going to be able to catch all those dreaded glass pipe bomb hippys like Tommy Chong without the Patriot act.

I mean the only ones complaining are people with something to hide. People with nothing to hide wouldn't be afraid to let government see there records or monitor their phone calls.

Oh. Unless your a vice President with a secret energy commision notes that are none of anyones buisness. Or a president with way to many scandals on your plate right now. Or a CIA director who knew a little too much about what everyone else already knew. Then it's okay to have a little privacy.

[Andy_Stephenson]

8. Kick

:kick:

[bobthedrummer]

9. Fuck Viet Dinh's gift to America kick

:dem::kick:

[Andy_Stephenson]

10. Isn't he from a comunist nation?

If so...how appropriate.

[Sliverofhope]

11. kick n/t

[redqueen]

12. And another

:kick:

[Straight Shooter]

13. Another kick

:kick:

Thanks God bnc

[Rex]

14. So they want to turn our FBI into the Soviet Era KGB?

Make no mistake, NSLs and the special repeal of the 5th and 14th Amendments for immigrants (that will be the test bed for using it on US citizens) means the death of our US Constitution. It would grant the Feds the privilege to KILL anyone they want to (deprivation of the right to LIFE, liberty, and property). Don't take my word for it, just read it and think about what HR 3179 is empowering the BFEE to do. Remember, they are floating around the idea that torture, in certain circumstances (which the BFEE creates and controls) is OK if it prevents a larger evil from happening (in other words, another event which cannot be verified, but our govt says might happen - sound familiar?)

This is KGB material all the way to its core.