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AS BUSH SIGNS LAW ENFORCEMENT BILL, ACLU PLEDGES TO MONITOR IMPACT ON CIVIL LIBERTIES

As President Bush signed new sweeping law enforcement legislation last week, the ACLU pledged anew to work with the Bush Administration and law enforcement agencies to ensure that civil liberties in America are not eroded by the newly approved USA Patriot Act.
"The passage of this broad legislation is by no means the end of the story," said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director. "We will now work with ACLU affiliates around the country to monitor its implementation. The ACLU remains firm in our belief that we can be both safe and free."

On Friday afternoon, in fact, ACLU officials met with FBI Director Robert Mueller, the second meeting in what the ACLU hopes will be a continuing dialogue with the nation's top law enforcement authorities. The ACLU will use these meetings to express its continuing concerns about the anti-terrorism legislation and other government actions.
"We cannot as a nation allow very legitimate public anxiety to immunize the Administration and Congress from their obligation to protect the Bill of Rights and the fundamental values that document embodies," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington National Office.

Congress adopted the bill signed by President Bush in near record time with only one public hearing and little debate. In fact, under intense pressure from Attorney General John Ashcroft, Republican leaders in the House torpedoed compromise legislation adopted unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee in a late-night deal with the Justice Department.
"These new and unchecked powers," said Gregory T. Nojeim, Associate Director of the ACLU's Washington Office, "could be used against American citizens who are not under criminal investigation, immigrants who are here within our borders legally and also against those whose First Amendment activities are deemed to be threats to national security by the Attorney General."

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

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