Happy birthday, Patriot Act!

(Washington, D.C.): Today marks the third anniversary of President Bush’s signature of the bipartisan counterrorism law enforcement legislation known as the USA PATRIOT Act. As Attorney General John Ashcroft notes in an op.ed. article in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, the past three years have been safer and freer for America and her citizens, thanks to the tools provided by this act.

The Attorney General reminds the Journal‘s readers that – notwithstanding the saturation bombing advertising/disinformation campaign that has been mounted by the Patriot Act’s opponents – it has proven to be an enormous boon to those responsible for protecting us without infringing Americans’ constitutional rights. He notes that: “The parade of witnesses that appeared before the 9/11 Commission spoke of the importance of the Patriot Act. Former Attorney General Janet Reno and many others credited the Patriot Act with updating the law to deal with terrorists, and, most critically, for tearing down the ‘wall’ in terrorism investigations that restricted the communication and cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence officials….Misleading rhetoric aside, not a single instance of abuse under the Act has been cited by any court, the Congress or the Justice Department’s own Inspector General – not one.”

General Ashcroft met last week over a working lunch at the Justice Department with members of the bipartisan Coalition for Security, Liberty and the Law and signatories of a recently released joint letter to the Congress that was sponsored by the Coalition. The letter strongly endorsed the Patriot Act and urged the congressional leadership to renew its key provisions that will otherwise expire next year.

President Bush, the Congress and, not least, the Patriot Act’s most effective champion, Attorney General Aschroft, deserve great credit for securing the enactment of this critical piece of legislation and for utilizing it so effectively on behalf of us all. With the track record of the past three years, it clearly behooves the Act’s beneficiaries – the American people and their elected representatives – to ensure that this counterterrorism tool remains available for the duration of the War on Terror.

The Patriot Act turns three today, but its age belies its experience – and its phenomenal success. Over the past 36 months, the Patriot Act has proved itself to be an indispensable tool that the men and women of law enforcement use to combat terrorism and to compile a record of accomplishment that has grown even as their responsibility for the safety of Americans has increased.

The Patriot Act enhanced communication on every level of law enforcement to combat terrorist threats, while also giving investigators the same tools to use in terrorism cases that they were using to combat other serious threats.

Armed with these tools, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agents have pursued and captured operatives in the war on terrorism from Florida to New York, from Virginia to Oregon and points in between. Since Sept. 11, 2001, 368 individuals have been charged and 194 have been convicted.

Despite the documented successes in keeping Americans safe from terrorism, the Patriot Act rarely receives its due, and indeed is often portrayed in an outright false light.

Take the latest example. Just last month, several major news organizations erroneously reported that a federal judge in New York had overturned “an important surveillance provision” of the Patriot Act. In fact, the judge ruled on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act – sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) and passed in 1986, 15 years before the Patriot Act. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post were forced to print corrections the next day.

Time and again, the image of the Patriot Act is at odds with the facts on the ground. Three years ago today, Congress passed, and President Bush signed, a piece of long-overdue legislation that has been critical to keeping Americans safe and free. The parade of witnesses that appeared before the 9/11 Commission spoke of the importance of the Patriot Act. Former Attorney General Janet Reno and many others credited the Patriot Act with updating the law to deal with terrorists, and, most critically, for tearing down the “wall” in terrorism investigations that restricted the communication and cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence officials.

This new ability to share information helped U.S. law enforcement, working with German authorities, to break up an alleged al Qaeda fund-raising plot in Germany. Here in the United States, the Patriot Act helped federal, state and local law enforcement dismantle the “Portland Seven” terrorist cell in Oregon, as well as cells in Seattle and New York, and alleged terrorist financers in Florida and Texas.

The Patriot Act has also been successful in updating anti-terrorism and criminal laws to bring law enforcement up to date with technology. Pre-Patriot Act, a new court order was required to continue surveillance of a suspected terrorist whenever he switched phones. The Patriot Act gave anti-terrorism investigators the same authority that investigators in criminal cases had to get a single court order allowing surveillance of every phone a suspect uses. Common sense dictates that tools that help fight the drug lords should be available to protect the American people from terrorist attacks.

The Patriot Act also increased penalties for not only those who commit terrorist acts, but for those who provide support to terrorists as well. In particular, the Act enhanced law enforcement’s ability to crack down on unlicensed foreign money transmittal businesses, a favored method of financing for terrorists. Prosecutors in New Jersey recently used the Patriot Act to convict Yehuda Abraham, whose services were used in a plot to sell shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles to terrorists with the understanding that they were going to be used to shoot down U.S. commercial aircraft.

The Patriot Act has proved its usefulness beyond the war on terrorism in protecting our most vulnerable citizens from harm. During the course of drafting and debating the Patriot Act in 2001, Congress wisely decided to provide some investigative tools for all criminal investigations, including terrorism investigations.

The result? In pedophile and kidnapping investigations, for example, a delay can literally mean the difference between life and death for a child. For years, investigators could subpoena some information from Internet service providers. But filing subpoenas to get information quickly to identify and locate a suspect could cost life-saving time.

Section 210 of the Patriot Act changed that. In Operation Hamlet, sexual predators were using the Internet to exchange photos and videotapes of children being sexually abused. Sometimes the abusers molested children while running a live feed via a Web cam; this allowed other child sexual abusers to watch in real-time online. Investigators used the Patriot Act to quickly obtain subpoenas for information from Internet service providers. The sexual predators were identified, and 19 were convicted. More than 100 children were spared further harm.

The Patriot Act has helped law enforcement achieve more safety and security for the American people without any abuse of civil liberties. Misleading rhetoric aside, not a single instance of abuse under the Act has been cited by any court, the Congress or the Justice Department’s own Inspector General – not one.

The public has expressed overwhelming support for the Patriot Act in opinion poll after opinion poll. They know what the 9/11 Commission affirmed: that for the past three years, America’s families and communities have been safer, and their freedom is enhanced because of the president’s resolve and leadership, the foresight of Congress in enacting these vital tools, and the courageous men and women on the front lines who have used the Patriot Act to protect our lives and liberties.