69 Patriot Act supporters warn against its expiration

As a minority of the Senate considers whether to continue to jeopardize reenactment of the Patriot Act, a distinguished group of the legislation’s supporters weighed in today at a press conference convened by two former Attorneys General at the National Press Club. Sixty-nine leaders in the fields of national security, law enforcement, public policy and academia called on the Congress not to allow the expiration or weakening of key parts of this "vital tool in our national effort to prevent further terrorist attacks against the United States."

Among the signatories of the attached Open Letter to the congressional leadership were: former Attorneys General Edwin Meese, Richard Thornburgh, William Barr and John Ashcroft, former National Security Advisor William P. Clark, former Secretaries of Defense Caspar Weinberger and James Schlesinger, former Deputy Attorney General George Terwilliger, former Solicitors General Judge Robert Bork and Theodore B. Olson, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, former U.S. Representative to the United Nations Jeanne Kirkpatrick, and actor Ron Silver.

The letter addresses the adverse national security effects that would be associated with allowing the Patriot Act’s "sunsetted" provisions to lapse. These include:

• "The Wall" that impeded information sharing and cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence authorities – which contributed to the Nation’s vulnerability at the time of the 9/11 attacks – will be reconstituted.
• The use of wiretaps for terrorist-related activities – including those where the possible use of lethal chemical agents or other weapons of mass destruction or espionage involving computers is suspected – will be precluded.
• Wiretaps that prevent terrorist suspects from eluding surveillance by switching phones will no longer available.
• Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may become safe-havens for terrorists, encouraging the Internet’s use for plots aimed at harming Americans.
• It will be more difficult to access "pen registers" and business records in connection with terrorism-related investigations than it is with respect to other crimes.

In releasing the Coalition for Security, Liberty and the Law ‘s newest letter, Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President of the Center for Security Policy (which sponsors the Coalition) said:

The signatories of this letter are among the Nation’s most serious, accomplished and influential figures in the fields of national and homeland security. In urging that the Patriot Act be kept strong and effective, they are speaking not only for themselves, but for literally millions of Americans who appreciate that this country is at war and needs this legislation’s tools to help defeat our terrorist foes.

We commend President Bush and the bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate that have previously recognized the vital importance of the Patriot Act to our security. We intend to do everything we can to ensure that these commonsensical views prevail in the debates ahead.