Patriot Act
NYT NYT
Thursday, April 22, 2004
President George W. Bush was on the campaign
trail on Tuesday, wrapping himself in the and
urging Congress to extend parts of the law that do
not expire until the end of next year. The has
always been a tempting bit of election-year
politics, an easy way to seem tough on terrorism.
But it also is bad law, and the president should be
heeding calls from conservatives and liberals to
remove provisions that trample on civil liberties.
The sailed through Congress just weeks after the
Sept. 11 attacks, in a climate, and bearing a
name, that made it difficult to raise questions.
Instead of conducting a serious investigation of
the law enforcement flaws that made the nation
vulnerable, its drafters came up with a rushed
checklist of increased police powers, many of
dubious value in fighting terrorism.
Among the most troubling provisions is Section
215, which allows the FBI to order libraries,
hospitals and others with personal records to
hand over such information about individuals.
People like librarians can be jailed if they refuse,
or if they notify the targets. Another authorizes
"sneak and peek" searches, in which the
government can secretly search people's homes
and delay telling them about the intrusions. As
troubling as specific provisions like these is the
"mission creep" that has inevitably occurred.
Bush's own Justice Department told Congress last
fall that the act's loosened restrictions on
government surveillance were regularly being
used in nonterrorism cases, like drug trafficking
and white-collar crime.
It is not hard to see the attraction of making a
political issue out of the , with an independent
commission raising questions about the
administration's vigilance before 9/11. But Bush's
sweeping praise for the act sidesteps the real
debate. Members of Congress from both parties,
including conservatives like Senator Larry Craig,
the Idaho Republican, and Representative Don
Young, the Alaska Republican, have expressed
concern about features of the act, like the
expanded search powers, that could harm civil
liberties.
With more than a year and a half before central
provisions of the act are due to expire, even its
supporters do not need to rush to reauthorize it. It
would be more productive for Bush and Congress
to spend the time finding ways to fight terrorism
that do not take away important liberties.
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