:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 6.05.2003 ::

:: The Patriot Act & beyond ::

From The NY Times:
Ashcroft Goes to Capitol Hill to Defend Antiterror Policy
By DAVID STOUT

WASHINGTON, June 5 — Attorney General John Ashcroft vigorously defended his Justice Department today against charges that it had mistreated illegal aliens in the hunt for potential terrorists.

Mr. Ashcroft not only defended a 2001 law that broadened government powers to use wiretaps and other surveillance techniques, but said it should be expanded.

"Let me state my view as clearly as possible," Mr. Ashcroft told the House Judiciary Committee. "Our ability to prevent another catastrophic attack on American soil would be more difficult, if not impossible, without the Patriot Act."

The Patriot Act, as its supporters dubbed it, was enacted shortly after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Besides widening surveillance powers, it gave the government more access to some financial information and other records.

While the act has been lauded by some as a necessary tool to fight terrorists, it has also stirred alarm among people who say it may undermine bedrock American principles of due process.

Some of those concerns were voiced at the outset today by the committee chairman, Representative F. James Sensenbrenner, Republican of Wisconsin.

"My support for this legislation is neither perpetual nor unconditional," he said. "I believe the department and Congress must be vigilant towards short-term gains which ultimately may cause long-term harm to the spirit of liberty and equality which animate the American character."

posted by me

:: 1:51:00 PM [+] ::
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