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Senators Joining Forces to Roll Back Some Patriot Act Provisions

By Jeralyn, Section Legislation
Posted on Thu Oct 16, 2003 at 03:48:35 PM EST
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The "SAFE Act" has been introduced in Congress. From today's Washington Times:

A bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocacy groups have formed a "Coalition of Conscience" to roll back sections of the Patriot Act they say encroach on civil liberties. [link via Patriot Watch].

"This is an amazing coalition. Very seldom do these groups and these senators come together," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat. Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican, and Mr. Durbin — joined by representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union and American Conservative Union, among others — yesterday introduced the Security and Freedom Ensured (SAFE) Act.

This bill needs your support. A sign-on letter urging support for S. 1709, the Security and Freedom Enhanced (SAFE) Act of 2003 can be found here.

On a related note, the ACLU has documented the Administration's efforts to pass the provisions of Patriot Act II piecemeal. Patriot Act II is formally known as the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003. While a draft circulated in Congress, it was never officially introduced.

"The leaked draft of PATRIOT II proved so overwhelmingly unpopular on the Hill - on both sides of the aisle - that the Administration is trying to slip it through under the radar in drips and drabs," said Timothy Edgar, an ACLU Legislative Counsel and author of the report.

The ACLU's report says we should be particularly on guard against the upcoming Victory Act.

Prominent in the report is the so-called VICTORY (Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations) Act of 2003, which has not been introduced but made waves when its existence in a draft circulated by Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) was revealed earlier this summer. Designed to link the war on terror with the war on drugs - and to use broader counter-terrorism surveillance powers in drug investigations - drafts of the VICTORY Act also have nestled in them three provisions that originally appeared in the PATRIOT II leaked draft.

We recommend reading the entire report and action alert.

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