[Video] Ron Paul Patriot Act Update - Campaign for Liberty [Archive]

Noob

02-03-2011, 02:58 PM

sample letter, you can go ahead and make any changes to it if you want to use any part of it.

Originally passed in 2001 as a ready response but temporary measure to the 9/11 attacks, the Patriot Act was renewed in 2005, 2009, and in 2010, in what appears to be a classic example of kicking the can down the road. By extending the Patriot Act one year at a time, Congressmen are relieved of the burden of having this very unpopular mass surveillance bill's permanent passage on their record. Instead, they continue to fly under the radar eschewing backlash from the folks back home, ignoring the fact that it is now a permanent and critical element that has drastically changed America, and not just for the traveling public. It allows telephone, email, medical and financial record searches without a court order, as well as warrantless searches for secretive purposes.

The purpose of H.R. 67 is "To extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 until February 29, 2012." It was introduced by a "conservative" Republican, Mike Rogers from Michigan, and has no cosponsors as of this writing. It is a carbon copy of the previous years' expansion legislation, without promised reforms of any kind

Since the founding of these United States and adoption of the Fourth Amendment but before the Patriot Act, intrusive investigative techniques had to be properly authorized under the law. Reasonable suspicion, probable cause, and due process were the guardians of personal privacies. Under the Patriot Act, these have been disregarded.

Will the new Congress act responsibly and unite to protect Constitutionally guaranteed privacy and liberty, voting against this massive information collection, power-grabbing scheme? Or will they spew forth the usual jargon citing grave threats against national security and peace, voting to gradually eliminate our civil liberties and rights under their self-appointed role as overzealous security guards for the homeland who well spit on the Constitution, and ignore the Bill of Rights and the Fourth Amendment.

All of the following provisions of the Patriot Act violate the Constitution . . .

* Roving wiretaps, where my calls can be monitored without specific warrant

* The infamous "library provision" where The State can monitor my reading habits

* National Security Letters that allow federal agents to spy on me without a Constitutional warrant, and where the service providers who share my private info can't tell me about it

* Requirements that my bank report my financial activities to federal cops and bureaucrats

This is only a partial list. Nearly everything in the Patriot Act violates the Constitution, which you swore to defend.

Please take note -- you did NOT swear an oath to defend me and my fellow citizens from every threat that makes you nervous. It's the Constitution that you're supposed to worry about first.

Everyone agrees that terrorists should be caught and stopped. But before 9/11, the federal government already had all the tools it needed to prevent that attack. The failure to prevent 9-11 was due to incompetence, NOT the Constitution.

Now, the Patriot Act has made federal incompetence more likely, NOT less. It has caused federal agents to lose their focus. The Justice Department's Inspector General reports that between 2003 and 2006 the FBI granted itself nearly 200,000 NSLs, but most of these were directed at innocent Americans, NOT potential terrorists.

What this tells me is that you are endangering me, NOT protecting me. This kind of abuse is why the Constitution limits State power, because no mere human can be trusted to use unlimited power wisely.

In conclusion . . .

* The Patriot Act should not be a law because it was NOT read before it was passed.

* The Patriot Act should not have been passed because it violates the Constitution.

* The Patriot Act would not have prevented 9-11, and it is NOT needed to combat future terrorist acts.

* The Patriot Act has been constantly abused, in spite of the usual worthless political promises that it would not be.

The Patriot Act has proven to be one of the most ineffective programs for preventing terrorist attacks and addressing matters of real national security that Congress has ever foisted upon the people. However, under this same Patriot Act, it is law-abiding Americans who have been the targets of invasive and unconstitutional laws, in direct conflict with the Bill of Rights, in their own homes and businesses, on the streets, in airports, mass transit stations, and in their private correspondence and financial transactions .

The Patriot Act has specifically gutted the Fourth Amendment, particularly the requirements for probable cause, oaths, and warrants. And the Patriot Act is a clear violation of the Congressional oath of office, one that demands office holders to uphold the rights and civil liberties guaranteed under the Constitution.

Please put an end to the existing and ever-expanding domestic spying program by letting the sun go down on the Patriot Act this February of 2011. The "papers please" mentality of Congress is appalling and un-American.

Uphold the Constitution: Vote "Nay" on H.R. 67 "To extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 until February 29, 2012"