In other words, if the FBI and other intelligence agencies had simply done their jobs and followed up on leads, then there wouldn't have been a need for the Patriot Act-and there certainly wouldn't be a need for warrantless searches. 'What we found were sufficient deficiencies in the way the FBI handled these issues,' said Inspector General Glenn Fine. The oversights were attributed to communication breakdowns, lack of urgency and bureaucratic obstacles, among other things. A Justice Department report reveals that the same FBI that wants to do an end-run around our Constitution passed up on at least five chances in the months before 9/11 to locate two terrorist hijackers as they prepared for attacks on our country. Yet while government officials insist that the FBI needs additional tools to fight terrorism, a recent report suggests that all the FBI really needs to do is its job. This provision would also lift one of the last restrictions on special warrants for the FBI-namely, that the information be related to international terrorism or foreign intelligence.

Yet if Congress acts to approve what critics have termed 'carte blanche for a fishing expedition,' the FBI will be in a position to conduct warrantless searches on people without having to show any evidence that they may be involved in criminal activities. Yet despite the many objections to these disturbing provisions within the Patriot Act, the Senate Intelligence Committee has wholeheartedly embraced the Patriot Reauthorization Act (PAREA), which takes government intrusion into the lives of average Americans to a whole new level.įor example, one 'administrative authority' provision within PAREA, which would allow the FBI to write and approve its own search orders, represents a direct assault on the Fourth Amendment's prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure. Instead, the Senate Intelligence Committee is not only working to make the Patriot Act permanent, but also to expand its reach.Īmong some of the widely cited concerns about the Patriot Act are that it redefines terrorism so broadly that many non-terrorist political activities such as protest marches or demonstrations and civil disobedience can be considered a terrorist act grants the FBI the right to come to your place of employment, demand your personal records and question your supervisors and fellow employees, all without notifying you allows the government access to your medical records, school records and practically every personal record about you allows the government to secretly demand to see records of books or magazines you've checked out in any public library and Internet sites you've visited (at least 545 libraries received such demands in the first year following passage of the Patriot Act) and most egregious of all, it allows the FBI to enter your home through the use of a special warrant, search your personal effects and confiscate your personal property without informing you that they have done so.

But that sun does not seem to be setting on this chilling piece of legislation. The Patriot Act was rushed through Congress, even though the majority of our representatives admitted to not reading it, reassured perhaps by the inclusion of a five-year sunset provision. Yet our government continues to ignore these concerns and push through its own agenda.Īt a massive 342 pages, the Patriot Act violates at least six of the ten original amendments known as the Bill of Rights-the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Amendments-and possibly the Thirteenth and Fourteenth as well. One City Council member from Arcata, Calif., described his town's ordinance as 'a nonviolent preemptive attack' on the federal government's revision of the Bill of Rights. Since the passage of the Patriot Act six weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 378 local and county governments and seven state legislatures representing millions of Americans have passed resolutions or ordinances opposing aspects of the Patriot Act that they believe to be at odds with the United States Constitution. What do our government representatives have to hide? Equally worrisome is the fact that the critical discussions and decisions surrounding expansion of the Act are taking place in secret, behind closed doors. Do our representatives understand how we feel? Or don't they care? The recent approval by the Senate Intelligence Committee to reauthorize and expand the Patriot Act's powers leaves one wondering if Congress listens to the American people anymore.

Liberty dies with thunderous applause