Posted by nadams on 09/30/09 8:11 PM Last updated 10/24/09 8:43 PM [Newer: Book Review: The Creature from Jekyll Island] [Older: HR 1207: Victory in GA-5!]

A letter from Saxby Chambliss concerning the PATRIOT Act and the JUSTICE Act:

Dear Mr. Adams:

Thank you for contacting me to share your thoughts regarding the PATRIOT Act.  I appreciate hearing from you.

Since its passage following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act has been an integral tool  in a number of successful operations to protect innocent Americans from the deadly plans of terrorists dedicated to destroying America and our way of life.

I believe this legislation is consistent with existing civil liberties and embodies a spirit of prevention and balance.  The PATRIOT Act streamlines anti-terrorism law so that it is consistent with other areas of criminal enforcement.  For example, the legislation allows federal agents to obtain library, medical, or financial records with a court ordered search warrant.  These kinds of searches have routinely been granted in other types of criminal investigations.  The PATRIOT Act also updated laws to reflect advances in technology.  For instance, the legislation allows intelligence officials to employ roving wiretaps. A roving wiretap follows an individual to intercept all calls made, regardless of location, in order to track individuals who change locations frequently to evade authorities.  Again, this is already legal in criminal investigations; this bill expands that authority to the intelligence community in an effort to stem terrorism.

The PATRIOT Act contains built-in reporting requirements and sunset provisions to safeguard civil liberties. Three such provisions are due to sunset on December 31, 2009: the provision which allows the government to seek a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) order from a court for an individual suspected of terrorism but who has no known connection to a terrorist organization; the  provision regarding roving wiretap authority; and Section 215, which permits the government to seek business records after a FISA court order is sought and approved. The PATRIOT Act was reauthorized in the 109th Congress, (P.L. 109-177) making critical national security provisions permanent, including those that helped in dismantling the pre-9/11 communications barriers between intelligence and law enforcement. Importantly, the reauthorization bill provided additional tools for securing our mass transportation systems and seaports. It also closed loopholes that jeopardized our ability to put a stop to terrorist financing. Finally, the reauthorization bill created a National Security Division at the Department of Justice to further safeguard America against another terrorist attack.

All of the PATRIOT Act provisions are subjected to rigorous congressional oversight.  The Department of Justice is required to submit to Congress annual reports on the various provisions in the bill, and multiple congressional committees regularly request additional information to ensure that American's civil liberties are protected and the PATRIOT Act is a useful tool for disrupting terrorism.  We have found that the PATRIOT Act has greatly curtailed terrorists' abilities to operate.  We are winning the war on terrorism, and we owe much of our success, including the fact that there has not been an attack against the homeland since September 11, 2001, to anti-terrorism legislation like the PATRIOT Act.

I supported passage of the original and reauthorized PATRIOT Act, and continue to monitor its effectiveness in our overall war on terrorism through my work on the Senate Committee on Select Intelligence and the Armed Services Committee.  I believe that it is important to equip our intelligence personnel with the means to apprehend criminals who would inflict pain and suffering on our nation.  However, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is a protection that I and all Americans value highly.  I will do everything in my power to protect the civil liberties enjoyed by American citizens, while enabling the intelligence community to do its job.

Posted 10/01/09 09:24 AM ShedPlant Slough, United Kingdom

"I believe this legislation is consistent with existing civil liberties and embodies a spirit of prevention and balance." Evil/Stupid.

Posted 11/09/09 3:16 PM AustinMandias Atlanta, GA

Wow, and I thought that Saxby had at least a decent view of the real world, non-political landscape. He clearly does not understand what sort of flagrant abuses of freedom that this act enables. As for the "war on terror" that we are "winning", I'm not sure one can wage a war on an emotion, nor a set of religious and cultural ideologies that would more aptly describe what we are fighting. This is a terrifying response to a legitimate question.