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ACLU BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED WITH
JOINT HOUSE-SENATE PASSAGE
OF ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION

The ACLU is bitterly disappointed with the joint House-Senate passage of anti-terrorism legislation that closely mirrors the highly controversial anti-terrorism package originally proposed by the Bush Administration.

"Most Americans do not recognize that Congress has adopted legislation that would give the government expanded power to invade our privacy, imprison people without due process and punish dissent," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington National Office.

Late last Thursday night, the Senate passed the "USA Act of 2001" with a vote of 96 to 1 and little debate. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) was the only Senator to vote against the bill. He also introduced three amendments -- all of which were defeated -- that would have fixed several of the bill's more glaring problems.

The next morning, the House GOP leadership adopted language that mirrored both the Senate bill and the Administration's anti-terrorism package. It replaced the language of the PATRIOT Act, a bill that had undergone significant revision in the House Judiciary Committee to protect civil liberties. The House adopted the new version of the bill by a vote of 337 to 79.

Both the Senate and the modified House anti-terrorism legislation now include many troubling provisions, most notably those that would:

-- Allow information obtained during criminal investigations to be distributed to the CIA, INS, Secret Service, military and others without judicial review.

-- Authorize expanded use of covert searches for any criminal investigation, thus allowing the government to enter your home, office or other private place and conduct a search, take photographs, and download your computer files without notifying you until later.

-- Expand the definition of terrorism in such a way that could potentially allow the government to levy heavy penalties for relatively minor offenses, including political protests.

-- Permit authorities to indefinitely detain non-citizens without meaningful judicial review.

-- Minimize judicial supervision of law enforcement wiretap authority.

A final version of the anti-terrorism legislation is expected to be on the House and Senate floors on Tuesday.

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To learn more about how the ACLU is working to keep America SAFE and FREE in this time of crisis, please visit the URL below:
http://www.you-click.net/GoNow/a15545a45067a80295107a5

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