Did anyone happen to hear Attorney General Ashcroft's presentation to the House Judiciary Committee today (Monday)? He asked the Committee to approve legislation that would help better intercept terrorists. The legislation asks permission for more wire-tapping, the ability to detain suspicious for an indefinite period of time, and for vital information discovered by the Grand Jury to be shared with intelligence agencies. Apparently, as it stands now, if one of the hijackers had testified previously at a Grand Jury trial, the information revealed would not be permitted to be shared with intelligence. Most Committee members want to pass the legislation as soon as possible, while one democrat, Barney Frank, wanted to delay it a week for review. One or two other democrats also wanted to delay, discuss, and possibly rewrite the legislation over possible concerns of constitutional violations. My personal opinion: we don't have the luxury of hashing out the finer points. We need to act now before it's too late. Personally, with the threat of a chemical or biological cloud raining down on our heads, I won't die any happier knowing every one of my constitutional rights were preserved. By the way, Ashcroft stated several times to the Committee that he wasn't aware of any constitutional rights being compromised by this legislation.
~Jennifer |
