In Other News

In October, 2001, Senator Maria Cantwell voted to pass the USA Patriot Act - and act that would soon find the country's librarians on the front lines in defending Americans' civil liberties. In her statement on the senate floor before her vote, Cantwell said the following:

“Mr. President, I support this bill but I do so only with the gravest reservations. We are giving broad new powers to our law enforcement and intelligence communities, without the traditional safeguards of judicial review and congressional oversight. I believe that many provisions of the bill, particularly those sections dealing with electronic eavesdropping and computer trespass, remain seriously flawed and may infringe on civil liberties…” ”…Unfortunately, aspects of this bill that greatly expand electronic eavesdropping in this country without providing adequate safeguards are deeply troubling. This bill attempts to improve our ability to eavesdrop on terrorists in this country without abridging American's Fourth Amendment right of reasonable search and seizure. I do not believe it does a good enough job.
Expansion of wiretap authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will expand the ability of the government - allowing wiretaps on the lines of American citizens - not just foreign terrorists. And it will be done in secret with insignificant reporting to the Congress, and with no way for Congress to conduct meaningful oversight…”

While there were many voices asking for restraint on the part of the government, the overall sense of the senate was to act first and ask questions later. As an acknowledgement to those concerns however, certain provisions of this intrusive act were set to expire or be reviewed for renewal after four years. Over the ensuing four years, many flaws and abuses in this act were exposed and challenged and the sense that there was a pattern of abuse of power on the part of the Bush Administration continued to grow. By the time those provisions of the Patriot Act came up for either expiration or renewal, there was a new awareness amongst the Democrats in Congress that more Americans were concerned about their civil liberties and were opposed to the extension of these provisions. Civil libertarians, members of the judiciary, and other concerned citizens had now had an opportunity to weigh in and passage of this bill was in real jeopardy.

In February, 2006, the senate again voted on extending the provisions of the USA Patriot Act. At that time, Senator Cantwell, having heard from constituents, expert witnesses and colleagues including Russ Feingold and Patty Murray (who had now determined that this act was flawed beyond repair) proceeded to vote “Aye” to the question of extending this threat to our civil liberties – the only Washington State Democrat to do so.

In four years, with the provisions of the bill that she was most concerned about still not improved (with the more recent revelations about the NSA wiretapping just around the corner), Senator Cantwell – this time in the light of day - acknowledged that she was aware of the potential assault on our freedoms and still chose to vote “Aye”.

In September, you will have a choice to make on who you believe will better represent and speak up for your freedoms and civil liberties. Choose wisely.


Peace,

Chad (The Left) Shue
Protect our Civil Liberties