Ashcroft: Bush would veto bill scaling back Patriot Act

[bluedog]

URL: sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/01/29/national1227EST0580.DTL


(01-29) 09:27 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

The Bush administration issued a veto threat Thursday against legislation introduced in Congress that would scale back key parts of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act.

In a letter to Senate leaders, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the changes contemplated by the Security and Freedom Ensured Act, or SAFE, would "undermine our ongoing campaign to detect and prevent catastrophic terrorist attacks."

If the bill reaches President Bush's desk in its current form, Ashcroft said, "the president's senior advisers will recommend that it be vetoed."

The threat comes a week after Bush, in his State of the Union address, called for Congress to reauthorize the Patriot Act before it expires in 2005. The law, passed shortly after the 2001 terror attacks, expanded the government's wiretap and other surveillance authority, removed barriers between FBI and CIA information-sharing, and provided more tools for terror finance investigations.

snip

The SAFE Act, which has not yet had a hearing in either the House or Senate, was introduced last fall by Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; and other lawmakers of both parties.

In a statement at the time, Craig said the bill was a "measured" response to concerns that the Patriot Act threatens civil liberties and privacy rights.

"This legislation intends to ensure the liberties of law-abiding individuals are protected in our nation's fight against terrorism, without in any way impeding that fight," Craig said.

snip


Ashcroft, who last year embarked on a national speaking tour in support of the Patriot Act, said the legislation would "make it even more difficult to mount an effective anti-terror campaign than it was before the Patriot Act was passed."



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The bill is S. 1709.
On the Net:

Congress: thomas.loc.gov

Justice Department: www.usdoj.gov

©2004 Associated Press

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/01/29/national1227EST0580.DTL&type=printable

[Skidmore]

1. Bring it on, big boy...

It is exactly this sort of crap that is your undoing.

[FeebMaster]

2. That would be a shocker.

Considering Bush hasn't vetoed anything yet.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. unfortunately...

He hasn't needed to.

[FeebMaster]

4. I don't know.

I'm not sure he knows how.

[Hubert Flottz]

5. The pissed off Repukes I've talked to "HATE" Ashcroft!

They "Hate" him worse than Bush and "HATE" was the exact word they used! So I don't believe for a minute that Democrats are the only people who "HATE" Bushco! I've heard the word hate straight from the horses Ass eerrrr... mouth not one, but three times in the last two weeks!

So YES, I hope they do push this fascist unAmerican line of Bushit, because people are far more worried about this threat from the within, than ANY threat Saddam ever posed to the "Homeland"! All three of these hard core Pubbies are switching to Democrat on their voter registrations!

One of the pubs I'm talking about is a retired military officer! One is a small business owner who had 10 employees in 2000 and is still just barely in business, but he is the only employee left! The third one lost a job that paid 80k almost two years ago and is still unemployed!

All three 'NEW DEMOCRATS' sheepishly admitted that they voted for Bush last time, but they are totally PISSED! They all said they have that "Constant SINKING Feeling" that we Democrats have lived with for the past three years! I said, "Welcome Back To The Real World!"

The big turn out in Iowa and New Hempshire were not ONLY just pissed off old guard Democrats I don't Hardly think! A month ago I was really worried and upset, but now I have a lot more hope!