Muslims For Kucinich

Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Members of Congress, angry over provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and Attorney General John Ashcroft's call for even greater authority for federal agents to act without permission from judges, launched a two-pronged attack on the law in the House of Representatives Wednesday.

In a speech to law enforcement officers in Memphis, Tenn., last Friday, Ashcroft said that, thanks in part to the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, or USA PATRIOT Act, the government is succeeding in preserving American lives without infringing on constitutional rights.

Ashcroft specifically and categorically denied charges that the FBI has used the powers granted under the act to review Americans' library records, bookstore purchases or Internet browsing habits.

"And wouldn't you know it. So prying are we, so overheated is our passion to know the reading habits of Americans that we have used this authority exactly...never," Ashcroft claimed. "No one's reading habits have been reviewed. Not a single American's library records has been reviewed under the PATRIOT Act."

Ashcroft paraphrased one of America's founders to justify the sweeping powers granted by the legislation passed in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"Thomas Jefferson and our nation's founders declared that governments are instituted among men to secure the rights of the people," Ashcroft said. "This then, is the first responsibility of our government: to preserve the lives and liberty of Americans."

Rep. Butch Otter, a conservative Republican from Idaho, joined Rep. Bernie Sanders, a liberal independent from Vermont, to call for the repeal of the PATRIOT Act provision Ashcroft claims to have never used. Otter had his own quote from the same founding father.

"It was Thomas Jefferson who said, 'In questions of political power, speak to me not of confidence in men, but bind them down from mischief with the chains of a Constitution,'" Otter said. "That mischief is what we're seeing today and could see tomorrow."

Sanders: PATRIOT Act is 'bad and dangerous piece of legislation'

Otter and Sanders are just two of more than 30 members of Congress who signed on as original cosponsors of bills designed to reign in the powers granted to federal law enforcement and intelligence officials by the PATRIOT Act. Sanders said whether or not the Justice Department has used the authority to date is not the main point.

"The fact that the Justice Department may not have used that provision in the last two years tells us that it may not be the most important necessity in terms of fighting terrorism," Sanders explained. "And if they haven't used it in the past, we want to make sure that they don't use it in the future.

"The bottom line is that when you have legislation on the books, it can be used," Sanders warned. "This is a bad and dangerous piece of legislation, and we don't ever want it to be used."

Sanders has introduced the Freedom to Read Protection Act (H.R. 1157), which would exempt bookstores and libraries from Section 215 of the act and require more thorough reporting to Congress on its use.

Otter questions how much credence should be given to Ashcroft's claim that the Justice Department has not used Section 215 of the act, which allows law enforcers to look at "business records" - including those of libraries, bookstores and Internet service providers - and forbids notification to the reader, buyer or user.

"How would you know? If the librarian is told, 'You cannot report this to anybody, including your national executive director, including your library board, or including your congressman, or your United States senator, but you are under penalty of law forbidden to tell anybody that you have been asked for that information," Otter observed, "it seems to me that one would have to question any information that comes out about whether the law was used or not."

While Otter is critical of Section 215 and Section 213, which authorizes so-called "sneak-and-peek" searches of which notification can be delayed for months, he defends Ashcroft.

"I don't blame Mr. Ashcroft, I don't blame the administration at all because it's their job to execute the laws which we give them to execute," Otter said. "What we did with the USA PATRIOT Act was, we went way too far. And so, now...it is our responsibility to retract those powers that we gave them."

Democrat calls Ashcroft 'the most dangerous man to Americans'

While Otter seems to accept the "I was just following orders" defense on Ashcroft's part, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) is much less forgiving.

"The most dangerous man to Americans is John Ashcroft. Without exception, every day he comes out with some way to further take away our rights," McDermott charged at a separate press conference Wednesday. "This man wants to take away everybody's rights in this country except the very few who surround him and believe like him."

McDermott is an original cosponsor of the "Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act" from Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

"With the title of this bill, we invoke and recall the words and spirit of a great American who stated, 'Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety,'" Kucinich said.

Ashcroft has continued to defend both the authority granted by the PATRIOT Act and the executive branch's utilization of those powers. He also suggests that those who seek to limit the federal government's new anti-terrorism tools are hindering progress against those who would harm Americans.

"Not a single court in America has validated any of the charges of violations of Constitutional rights in connection with the PATRIOT Act," Ashcroft said.

"On this [Section 215] and every other tool provided in the PATRIOT Act, charges of abuse of power are ghosts, unsupported by fact or example," Ashcroft claimed. "We have a job to do, a job that's too important to be sidetracked by flights of fancy."

Kucinich's legislation would repeal several sections of the USA PATRIOT Act, including:

Section 213: Allows "sneak-and-peek" searches to be conducted without giving notice of the search or the issuance of a warrant;

Section 214: Authorizes electronic surveillance of Internet traffic under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without establishing probable cause that the target of the action is involved in terrorism, espionage or another crime;

Section 215: Permits secret searches of business records without establishing probable cause sufficient to show a connection to terrorism, espionage or another crime;

Section 216: Allows electronic surveillance in criminal cases without establishing probable cause sufficient to obtain a search warrant;

Section 218: Authorizes the use of secret electronic surveillance products originally intended to be used only in espionage cases for domestic criminal law enforcement;

Section 411: Establishes new grounds for deportation based on what the alien "knew or should have reasonably known" about organizations with which he or she had contact;

Section 505: Permits the use of so-called "National Security Letters" to force the production of records and information about targets of investigations without having to convince a judge to issue a court order;

Section 507: Gives the attorney general the power to demand the production of confidential educational records on declaration that the information is needed for a terrorism-related investigation, again without a court order; and

Section 802: Expands the definition of domestic terrorism in a manner that opponents believe would allow it to be used against peaceful, political protesters.

Kucinich's 'True Patriot Act' gives lawmakers a chance to reconsider vote

"The PATRIOT Act was passed in a blind rush, and in that rush to judgment, Congress trampled some important civil liberties," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) "Justice is really supposed to be blind, but lawmakers shouldn't be. We need to foresee the consequences of our actions."

Lee was one of 66 representatives to vote against the bill. All were Democrats except for Sanders, Otter and Republicans Bob Ney of Ohio and Ron Paul of Texas. Nine House members did not vote.

Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) was the only senator who voted against the PATRIOT Act. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) did not vote.

As CNSNews.com reported shortly after passage of the law, many representatives and senators expressed reservations about the PATRIOT Act but voted for it out of fear that political opponents would label them "unpatriotic". Rep. Michael Honda (D-Calif.) said Kucinich's bill is a good vehicle to redress that mistake.

"It offers opportunities for those wished they didn't vote for it to correct that," Honda said. "[Some of] my colleagues on the other side have told me personally that they wished they hadn't [voted for the PATRIOT Act], that they should have read it a little closer. This gives them the opportunity to make that correction."

Whether the PATRIOT Act is amended through his bill or the one proposed by Kucinich, Sanders said no one is opposed to the Justice Department or other federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies having the powers they legitimately need to combat terrorists consistent with the primary reason Americans oppose terrorism.

"Let's protect the American people from terrorism," Sanders said, "but let's do it in a way that does not undermine the basic freedoms that have made this a great, great country."