This afternoon, the U.S. House will vote on the conference report to H.R.
3199 to make permanent 14 of the 16 provisions of the so-called Patriot Act.
The true patriotic act would be for the U.S. House to say "no" and let those
un-American provisions die.
Numerous groups -- conservative and liberal; Republican and Democratic -- oppose
H.R. 3199. Groups such as Gun Owners of America, American Conservative Union
and Americans for Tax Reform want the U.S. House to vote "no" on H.R. 3199, as
does the American Civil Liberties Union.
There's even bipartisan opposition in the U.S. Senate. Republican Senator Larry
Craig of Idaho and Democratic Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin have
threatened to filibuster H.R. 3199 should the House pass it.
Patriot Act, un-American? You bet. For example, the Patriot Act violates our
constitutional standard of probable cause for search and seizure. Section 215
allows the federal government to seize library records and records of firearms
sales. That shatters your Fourth Amendment protections.
Gun Owners of America warns, "These records would be obtained from gun dealers,
who are required by law to keep the gun purchase records (4473 forms). Thus an
anti-gun administration could then easily compile gun owners registration lists
-- an enterprise which has often been a prelude to gun confiscation.
"Of course, more than just your gun purchase records are at stake. Financial
and medical records, library records and much more are also open to FBI fishing
expeditions. They dont have to get any prior approval from any court." That's
unconstitutional.
Threat Level to Gun Ownership: Orange (high)
Threat Level to Personal Privacy: Red (severe)
But these aren't the only un-American provisions in the so-called Patriot Act.
If the House approves H.R. 3199 tomorrow, the U.S. Secret Service will continue
to do more than physically protect the president and others. A reauthorized
Patriot Act would "make major changes to the criminal statutes administered by
the Secret Service and could seriously damage the free speech rights of all
Americans." (Press Release, ACLU, 12/12/05)
Caroline Fredrickson of the ACLU warns, "If this provision is adopted, our
precious First Amendment would be significantly curtailed. The Secret Service
already has broad authority to stifle dissent at events where high-ranking
public officials appear.
"This little-noticed provision, contained in legislation meant to reauthorize
the Patriot Act, would give the Secret Service effective power to enact
'exclusion zones' even without the attendance of the president or other Secret
Service protectee."
So, express a dissenting opinion by holding a sign or saying the "wrong" words
to a politician you don't like and you could be committing a felony punishable
by one year in prison.
Threat Level to Free Speech: Red (severe)
The so-called Patriot Act is un-American. Urge your U.S. representative to vote
"no" on H.R. 3199.
Send an e-mail message by going to:
http://capwiz.com/liberty/issues/alert/?alertid=8315306&type=COBetter yet, call your representative. The U.S. Capitol switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org*FW Note:For the record, I called my representative. I asked him to vote "NO" on H.R. 3199.
