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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Rand Paul pleads for conservatives to oppose the PATRIOT Act Rand Paul pleads for conservatives to oppose the PATRIOT Act By Sahil Kapur Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 -- 12:02 pm WASHINGTON – Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wrote to colleagues Tuesday voicing objections to the PATRIOT Act as it heads to the Senate for reauthorization, warning that it could turn America into a "police state." Paul, a tea party favorite who was first elected last November, expressed opposition to warrantless searches and surveillance, questioning their constitutionality and their necessity to protect the United States from terrorist acts. "I object to these warrantless searches being performed on United States citizens," he wrote. "I object to the 200,000 NSL searches that have been performed without a judge’s warrant. I object to over 2 million searches of bank records, called Suspicious Activity Reports, performed on U.S. citizens without a judge's warrant." "It is not acceptable to willfully ignore the most basic provisions of our Constitution—in this case—the Fourth and First Amendments—in the name of 'security,'" Paul added. The House on Monday approved an extension of three key provisions in the PATRIOT Act by a margin of 275 to 144, after an attempt to fast-track the bill failed to win a two-thirds majority last week. The provisions will expire at the end of February if the Senate does not also extend them. Paul said that in passing the PATRIOT Act after the attacks of September 11, 2001, "Congress instead hastily passed a long-standing wish list of power grabs like warrantless searches and roving wiretaps. The government greatly expanded its own power, ignoring obvious answers in favor of the permanent expansion of a police state." The Kentucky Republican's letter reflects that he is positioning himself as a civil liberties champion, a rare breed in Congress and especially so in the Senate, making his voice more significant. The PATRIOT Act has largely been supported by the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as a majority of Democratic and Republican lawmakers. TAKE ACTION Petitions by Change.org|Get Widget|Start a Petition » "As February 28th approaches, with three provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act set to expire, it is time to re-consider this question: Do the many provisions of this bill, which were enacted in such haste after 9/11, have an actual basis in our Constitution, and are they even necessary to achieve valid law-enforcement goals?" Paul wrote. In his letter, Paul even quoted ousted Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold (WI), a civil liberties stalwart and the only Senate vote against the PATRIOT Act in the weeks after 9/11. His full letter is below the fold. #### Dear Colleague: James Otis argued against general warrants and writs of assistance that were issued by British soldiers without judicial review and that did not name the subject or items to be searched. He condemned these general warrants as “the worst instrument[s] of arbitrary power, the most destructive of English liberty and the fundamental principles of law, that ever w[ere] found in an English law book.” Otis objected to these writs of assistance because they “placed the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer.” The Fourth Amendment was intended to guarantee that only judges—not soldiers or policemen—would issue warrants. Otis’ battle against warrantless searches led to our Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable government intrusion. My main objection to the PATRIOT Act is that searches that should require a judge’s warrant are performed with a letter from an FBI agent—a National Security Letter (“NSL”). I object to these warrantless searches being performed on United States citizens. I object to the 200,000 NSL searches that have been performed without a judge’s warrant. I object to over 2 million searches of bank records, called Suspicious Activity Reports, performed on U.S. citizens without a judge’s warrant. As February 28th approaches, with three provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act set to expire, it is time to re-consider this question: Do the many provisions of this bill, which were enacted in such haste after 9/11, have an actual basis in our Constitution, and are they even necessary to achieve valid law-enforcement goals? The USA PATRIOT Act, passed in the wake of the worst act of terrorism in U.S. history, is no doubt well-intentioned. However, rather than examine what went wrong, and fix the problems, Congress instead hastily passed a long-standing wish list of power grabs like warrantless searches and roving wiretaps. The government greatly expanded its own power, ignoring obvious answers in favor of the permanent expansion of a police state. It is not acceptable to willfully ignore the most basic provisions of our Constitution—in this case—the Fourth and First Amendments—in the name of “security.” For example, one of the three provisions set to expire on February 28th—the “library provision,” section 215 of the PATRIOT Act—allows the government to obtain records from a person or entity by making only the minimal showing of “relevance” to an international terrorism or espionage investigation. This provision also imposes a year-long nondisclosure, or “gag” order. “Relevance” is a far cry from the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of probable cause. Likewise, the “roving wiretap” provision, section 206 of the PATRIOT Act, which is also scheduled to expire on the 28th, does not comply with the Fourth Amendment. This provision makes possible “John Doe roving wiretaps,” which do not require the government to name the target of the wiretap, nor to identify the specific place or facility to be monitored. This bears an uncanny resemblance to the Writs of Assistance fought against by Otis and the American colonists. Other provisions of the PATRIOT Act previously made permanent and not scheduled to expire present even greater concerns. These include the use and abuse by the FBI of so-called National Security Letters. These secret demand letters, which allow the government to obtain financial records and other sensitive information held by Internet Service Providers, banks, credit companies, and telephone carriers—all without appropriate judicial oversight—also impose a gag order on recipients. NSL abuse has been and likely continues to be rampant. The widely-circulated 2007 report issued by the Inspector General from the Department of Justice documents “widespread and serious misuse of the FBI’s national security letter authorities. In many instances, the FBI’s misuse of national security letters violated NSL statutes, Attorney General Guidelines, or the FBI’s own internal policies.” Another audit released in 2008 revealed similar abuses, including the fact that the FBI had issued inappropriate “blanket NSLs” that did not comply with FBI policy, and which allowed the FBI to obtain data on 3,860 telephone numbers by issuing only eleven “blanket NSLs.” The 2008 audit also confirmed that the FBI increasingly used NSLs to seek information on U.S. citizens. From 2003 to 2006, almost 200,000 NSL requests were issued. In 2006 alone, almost 60% of the 49,425 requests were issued specifically for investigations of U.S. citizens or legal aliens. In addition, First Amendment advocates should be concerned about an especially troubling aspect of the 2008 audit, which documented a situation in which the FBI applied to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to obtain a section 215 order. The Court denied the order on First Amendment grounds. Not to be deterred, the FBI simply used an NSL to obtain the same information. A recent report released by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) entitled, “Patterns of Misconduct: FBI Intelligence Violations from 2001-2008,” documents further NSL abuse. EFF estimates that, based on the proportion of violations reported to the Intelligence Oversight Board and the FBI’s own statements regarding NSL violations, the actual number of violations that may have occurred since 2001 could approach 40,000 violations of law, Executive Order, and other regulations. Yet another troublesome (and now permanent) provision of the PATRIOT Act is the expansion of Suspicious Activity Reports. Sections 356 and 359 expanded the types of financial institutions required to file reports under the Bank Secrecy Act. The personal and account information required by the reports is turned over to the Treasury Department and the FBI. In 2000, there were only 163,184 reports filed. By 2007, this had increased to 1,250,439. Again, as with NSLs, there is a complete lack of judicial oversight for SARs. Finally, I wish to remind my colleagues that one of the many ironies of the rush to advance the PATRIOT Act following 9/11 is the well-documented fact that FBI incompetence caused the failure to search the computer of the alleged 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui. As FBI agent Coleen Rowley stated, “the FBI headquarters supervisory special agent handling the Moussaoui case ‘seemed to have been consistently almost deliberately thwarting the Minneapolis FBI agents’ efforts” to meet the FISA standard for a search warrant, and therefore no request was ever made for a warrant. Why, then, was the FBI rewarded with such expansive new powers in the aftermath of this institutional failure? In the words of former Senator Russ Feingold, the only “no” vote against the original version of the PATRIOT Act, “[T]here is no doubt that if we lived in a police state, it would be easier to catch terrorists. If we lived in a country that allowed the police to search your home at any time for any reason; if we lived in a country that allowed the government to open your mail, eavesdrop on your phone conversations, or intercept your email communications; if we lived in a country that allowed the government to hold people in jail indefinitely based on what they write or think, or based on mere suspicion that they are up to no good, then the government would no doubt discover and arrest more terrorists. But that probably would not be a country in which we would want to live. And that would not be a country for which we could, in good conscience, ask our young people to fight and die. In short, that would not be America.” I call upon each of my Senate colleagues to seriously consider whether the time has come to re-evaluate many—if not all—provisions of the PATRIOT Act. Our oath to uphold the Constitution demands it. Sincerely, Rand Paul, M.D. United States Senator
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#3. To: abraxas (#0)
Rand better make up his mind which side of the fence he wishes to be on.
His position is clear. He's a good guy on this issue.
His position is clear. He's a good guy on this issue. OK, I'll rephrase that. Rand Paul needs to be CONSISTENT, either he is with the masses or he is not
I think you're confusing US with the masses, Cyni. If people like US represent more than 5% of the American masses, I'll eat that bola hat you're so proud of!
Am not. Stop trying to confuse an olde man, not nice. Jethro, he has to be consistent. The Patriot Act is FOR AND AGAINST THE MASSES, even tho most of them do not realize it. Patriot Act is about hanging or shooting you and me, no matter what we know, and we is a part of the masses. Rand objects, that good. Now, just prior, Rand lays the ills of the country on me, the common slug, the lowest of the low of the masses. Thats bad. He is either with us or the system. Dont kick my ass on Monday, pat me on the back on Tuesday and ask for money on Wednesday. Common people well may be not to bright, BUT THEY HAVE A LONG MEMORY.
He is inconsistent. Keep looking, for anyone that disagrees. Just last night, at dinner, one of my friends said, "You suppose Rand is really a hypocrit, or does someone need to tell him to clean up his inconsistency?" The guy who posed the question is a rube! hehehe
Well, he sure scorched my rear end with his laying the troubles of this country on me and my cuzin kin. After thinkin it over, I am surprised he did not lay this endless war on me and my kin. Being a born agin pub like his Daddy, I aint gonna sit still if he says I invaded Iraq. By the way I am listing all potential subversive Paulites here on the forum. hehehehehehehehehe
Methinks that Cyni is cursing the son for the supposed sins of his father. You're interpretation of Rand's news blips on unions is in err. You never did answer any of my questions regarding forced unionization in the land of the free. Omitting KEY adjectives is disingenuous dear. Here you have the only one with the guts to speak against this travesty in the senate, yet you will give no quarter for that while festering over other issues that arise from willfully ignoring the words "forced" and "coerced" from this man's commentary.
You and I have an historic opportunity to break the cycle of tax-and-spend, political corruption and out of control budgets..... caused..... by Big Labor’s compulsory union power.... But we must strike now to make Congressmen and Senators choose between standing with the 80% of Americans who oppose forced unionism and Big Labor's multi-billion dollar political machine. It will be an epic, historic battle and your support is critical. Please sign the petition below right away. Sincerely, Rand Paul U.S. Senator, (R-KY) Ab... Above are Rands words in their entirety. I take it as he intended. I cannot fathom how the other 88 per cent of American workers have no effect what so ever. I cannot grasp that.
forced unionism and Big Labor's multi-billion dollar political machine Yes, I am fully aware of Rands words in their entirety. You are not taking it has he intended. You are using the average working man to hide behind his true intent. Big Labor is a term that generally excludes independent unions. It refers to the Leviathan unions that are generally INTERNATIONAL exuding influence on the American government. These are mega unions that take in the independent unions as part of the GLOBALISTS wet dream. World Workers Unite ring any bells? Why do you think that the term Big Labor was used? This isn't about the average worker, Cyni. Again, for the umpteenth time, are for FORCED unionism or not?
#23. To: abraxas (#22)
Ab... If you read my pearls of wisdom, you will find that I post repeatedly that ...I DESPISE UNIONS, any union, all unions, voluntary or forced, all, all.''If you recall Reagan busted a very powerful union, many of them that lost their jobs were my friends and coworkers. I talked til blue in the face to them, dont do it. It is stupid. But I also knew that they had to have a union for protection. Why should slugs and drones need a union??? They are overpaid, dont do anything, get a huge pension and live happily ever after, right??????????????????? AB, the guy at the bottom has only his hands and sweat to offer, with that in mind, the first thing that every communist government does ..is outlaw all unions..each year the number of American workers within unions drops. Perhaps we should go backwards, make all unions illegal, no minimum wage, even open up child labor again, perhaps we should be careful about what we wish for and use caution when we place blame for our ills.
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