Bump and Update: Senator Richard Durbin responds to Ashcroft--we received his press release by e-mail:

DURBIN RESPONDS TO VETO THREAT AGAINST THE SAFE ACT

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) today issued the statement below following the Bush Administration’s veto threat against legislation that would amend parts of the PATRIOT Act. Bipartisan legislation which I, along with Larry Craig (R-ID) and a group of other senators, introduced last October has today come under fire from Attorney General John Ashcroft and members of the Bush Administration. The legislation, known as the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act, is a bill designed to impose reasonable limits on law enforcement’s authority without hampering their ability to investigate and prevent terrorism.

Our bill does not propose a repeal of the PATRIOT Act – far from it. I voted for that bill, as did the vast majority of my colleagues in Congress. I believed then, and I still believe, that the PATRIOT Act made many reasonable and necessary changes in the law. But in some cases the new law goes too far, and we should amend those provisions to reflect every American citizen’s right to be both safe and free. Under the SAFE Act, the FBI would still have broad authority to combat terrorism; at the same time the bill would protect innocent Americans from unchecked government surveillance.

Attorney General Ashcroft’s response today is an unfortunate over-reaction to a reasoned and measured effort to mend the PATRIOT Act. Three months ago I asked senior officials at the Department of Justice to work with me and my staff on changes to the PATRIOT Act that reflect the very real concerns of many Americans. After 90 days of silence, today they issued a veto threat. This extraordinary reaction to a bill that hasn’t even had a hearing in the Senate demonstrates that the Administration fears that this reasonable bipartisan approach is likely to succeed.

I am eager to work with the President to meet the challenges posed by the post-September 11th world, but we must do so in a way that protects the freedoms of all Americans

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